Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 15 The Battle of Zhonglingshui ([-])
Bingshu said: "When the enemy is close to the situation, it is necessary to sharpen the energy. The battle date is scheduled, and it is necessary to cut off the energy. Today will fight, and it is necessary to extend the energy."

As an old soldier, Hao Zhenwei is still qualified in this regard.Yesterday, the army issued a reward, and everyone's morale was boosted. Today's decisive battle, before leaving the camp, they did some mobilization and announced the ban on killing. , At this time, from a technical point of view, it is already a battleable army.

The Tiande army had more than [-] people, and the formation was a typical Yanyue formation in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Hao Zhenwei led the three with the strongest combat power, more than a thousand people, in the middle, and there were 300 people personally selected by him and a hundred guards of the army supervisor Qiu Weidao.There are less than 500 people, with a high armor rate, skilled combat skills, and high morale. They should be the decisive force of the German Army.Naturally, they will also face the most ferocious offensive of the enemy.

Behind these three, there is an army of nearly 800 people mainly composed of auxiliary soldiers and cavalry.

Auxiliary soldiers also formed a formation, allotted long spears, and other weapons such as bows and arrows, horizontal knives and the like, and they supported the rear of the entire army with the support of carriages and horses.Once the enemy has broken through the left and right flanks, they will also participate in the battle when they circle to the rear to attack.

As for whether to participate in the battle after defeating the central army, uh, at this time, they usually run away.

You Yi envoy Tian Xing's cavalry was also deployed in this line, ready to attack at any time.

On the right side of the Chinese army are the two capitals led by ten generals Sun Ba and Li Renjun, each with a large banner embroidered with bears and ospreys.Although these two are capable of fighting, they are not enough. There are only 600 people in total. In order to strengthen the flank force, Hao Zhenwei selected hundreds of strong and brave soldiers from the auxiliary soldiers before the battle, and promised to reward them after the war. Only by recruiting them into the army did they replenish the two to 500 people each.

On the left side of the central army, the ten generals Shi Rong and Tuoba Gui each lead a capital. There are two general flags embroidered with tigers and wolves. There are also a large number of good combat auxiliary soldiers, about a thousand people - Tuoba Gui is a new promotion , most of his subordinates are auxiliary soldiers.

Nearly 300 people of the German Army are here.There were only a hundred or so old and weak left in the camp, and it could be said that they were desperate to fight here.If the field battle is defeated, it doesn't matter if we don't want the big camp, and everyone will flee for their lives.If the field battle is won, this big battalion can also be abandoned, and the whole army will fight in the direction of Shuozhou.

Shao Shude and Guan Kairun, one left and one right, stood beside Qiu Weidao.Qiu Shijun wore a body armor today, bright and bright, which was the first time Shao Shude saw him.

Hao Zhenwei was riding on a tall horse, surrounded by two lieutenants, one Marquis Yu, one Yaya, some drummers, horn players, chief and deputy standard bearers, and some scattered cavalry.The ten generals of the pro-army, Wang Chao, brought the most elite 300 people in the army, and stood by for orders, ready to meet the enemy at any time.

The battlefield was filled with smoke and dust, and the horses neighed.Since the enemy formation is still some distance away, everyone has an order to eat some water and rest for a while. After all, it is very tiring to wear armor and hold a gun, and it will consume physical strength after fighting for a while.

Well, this is what experienced generals do. Every ounce of strength on the battlefield is precious. It is also a technical task to reasonably allocate the physical strength of soldiers to make them in good condition when the two armies engage in battle.

On the other hand, Xue Zhiqin's team on the opposite side has been marching into the battlefield. Before the battle, the soldiers did not get enough rest, and most of them suffered a small loss in terms of physical strength when fighting.

Those savages, so poor they were scumbags, were instigated by Li Guochang and his son for some reason, to come to Shuozhou to do this beheading business.Isn't it good to farm and herd sheep for the tribal chiefs in Daibei?
Xue Zhiqin did too. Now all the fools knew that he was anxious to eat the Tiande army in one bite. He marched [-] li from Shuozhou to fight. His courage was really good, but he didn't know if the fight would actually take place in a while, whether those tribal soldiers would be of any use.

noon.Thousands of Xue Zhiqin's troops rushed to the place three or four hundred paces away from the Tiande army's large formation.The morale of the tribal soldiers is obviously not very good. After walking all morning, everyone is tired and hungry, and they are screaming.

However, it can be seen that there should be many veterans in Xue Zhiqin's department, probably his old subordinates in Yunzhou.

"Woo-" Before the drum sounded, the horn sounded suddenly, which startled Shao Shude.Although he was blocked by the army formation and could not see the situation in front of him, he could know the general situation just by listening to the sound of fighting.The enemy should have just entered the battlefield, and the two sides have not yet engaged. What is the sound of this horn?
The rumbling of hooves soon sounded.

You Yi envoy Tian Xing led his men and horses out of the rear formation, and a full [-] cavalry rode straight into the chaotic Xue Zhiqin formation like a long dragon.Their movements are very fast, less than [-] steps away, it can be said that they arrive in an instant.The cavalry drew out their cavalry bows and threw a round at the enemy's great formation.

Xue Zhiqin's team was just about to take a break to recover his strength.As a result, he was suddenly attacked and had to fight back.

I saw that under the command of the officers, they shot with long-range bows, and wave after wave of arrows flew out of the large array, driving the cavalry of the Tiande Army away from a distance.At the same time, the Xue Bu cavalry also moved, and the target was the Tiande cavalry, obviously wanting to drive away this annoying "fly".

"Dong, dong, dong..." The drums of the marching drums sounded almost at the same time.Hao Zhenwei took the lead, moving forward with his entourage and his own troops, and as soon as he left, the great formation also began to move.Thousands of people from the central army, the left wing, and the right wing marched in unison. The soldiers shouted "kill, kill, kill" three times.

Shao Shude was infected by the atmosphere, his adrenaline surged, his heart beat faster, and he felt full of power.Looking around, the old subordinates are all excited, especially Lu Huaizhong, his expression is hideous, he wants to eat people, Nima, is this the top?

It is different from the time when the parade lectures on martial arts. When the real army is engaged, the two sides are very cautious.The pace is slow, and after walking fifty or sixty steps, he stops to organize the formation.And the action must be unified, you can't stop and I'm still walking, the formation will be out of line, and the enemy will take advantage of it.

Today, the German army more than 5000 people formed a total of eight small formations, with hundreds of people in each formation, with flags and drum horns.When the formation needs to be adjusted, the large formation of the Chinese army blows the horn first, and the small square formations then blow the horns in response.

The opposite approach is similar to this one.However, there are too many recruits in their team. Although the Yunzhou soldiers are brave, they only account for a thousand people. After only [-] steps, the formation is crooked, and it took a long time to rectify.To tell the truth, the Yanyue Array is more suitable for this kind of opponent. The thick and elite central army is waiting for you to rush, and the weaker flanks will detour and flank, and see how you die!
The only thing to worry about is probably the thousand or so Yunzhou veterans.Like the Zhenwu Army, they can really fight, otherwise they will not be able to conquer the three Shatuo and the five north.There is also the enemy's cavalry, which should be Shatuo people. Judging from the fight a few days ago, their strength is strong, slightly higher than the front line of the Tiande army, and they must be strictly vigilant.

The two armies moved towards each other in this way, at a very slow speed. After walking straight for about half an hour, they finally approached about a hundred paces.At this time, the twelve horns of the central army puffed up their cheeks and blew the horn for the third time.

The sound of the horn was an order, and the first three stopped immediately and slanted the flag forward to the ground.The first three platoons of infantrymen holding [-]-foot-long spears clenched their barrels, while a platoon of shield-holding soldiers stepped forward, while the rear platoons used bows and arrows to launch a round of projectiles.The left flank was slightly behind the central army by fifty paces at this time, and stopped as well, while the right flank did not stop, but after finishing the formation, it continued to advance, preparing to flank the enemy formation.

A bow and arrow shot at a distance of [-] paces is not lethal.The front of the Shuozhou Army, which had discharged the arrows and arrows, had endured this wave of arrows. Shao Shude could not see the situation on their side, and did not know whether the enemy was shaken.The northern frontier army, this level of arrow rain, is simply a drizzle.

After shooting a round of arrows, the army continued to move forward, and the arrow rain on the opposite side also arrived.Shao Shude lowered his head slightly and listened to the sound of arrows flying past his ears.Well, it is sparse and the speed is very slow. It can be said that it is light and fluttering. As long as you wear armor, unless you are unlucky, it will generally not cause any damage.

Seventy steps later, the horn sounded again, and there was another salvo.The enemy's counterattack was faster and more accurate than last time. Shao Shude listened carefully, and there were two muffled hums around him.Fortunately, it wasn't the supervising army. There were two soldiers guarding him with large shields and armor on his body, so there would be no problem.

Thirty paces, the Chinese army fired a salvo, and the arrows on the opposite side came as promised.This time, the power was great, and even though the spearmen in front were protected by a large shield, they still collapsed.Even in their place, many arrows flew through the large formation. A soldier beside Shao Shude was shot in the thigh and fell to the ground, gritted his teeth and screamed in pain.

"Dong, dong, dong..." The drum sound became fierce, and the two sides invariably accelerated their pace, which was about to close combat.Shao Shude knew that the right wing was actually one step closer to fighting the enemy, because there were faint shouts of killing in the distance, but that was not his battlefield. Today, only this wave of collision between the two central armies decided his life and death - one side wanted the right wing. Outflanking, one side wants to break through in the center, who can win depends on their own abilities.

"Kill!" The infantry formations from both sides finally collided.The spearmen on the front line glared angrily and shouted to kill, intending to overwhelm each other with momentum. At the same time, the spears in their hands shook vigorously, and quickly tapped the gun barrels of the enemy soldiers, trying to let them go.At their feet, some soldiers had already abandoned their bows, holding a small cowhide round shield in one hand and a short blade of cold light in the other, rushing towards the enemy line with a cat on their waist.

At this time, it was noon, and the sun was hanging in the middle.On the banks of Zhonglingshui, the battle that the two sides had been looking forward to for many days was finally staged as scheduled.

Note 1: In the Tang system, when an infantry team marches, fifty steps are divided into a section, and a trumpet is blown. When each team hears the sound of the trumpet, they must stand at attention on the spot and organize their formation. The distance between each team should not exceed ten steps.

(End of this chapter)