Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 44: Patrol ([-])

On May 27 of the sixth year of Qianfu, it was sunny in Daizhou.

More than [-] officers and soldiers from Zhongwu Town crossed the river in chaos early in the morning.

To be honest, the Zhongwu Army can still fight.Chen, Xu, and Cai Zhuzhou's elite soldiers are already well-known in this era.A while ago, Cui Anqian, the envoy of the Xichuan Festival in Jiannan, sent generals to Chen and Xu states to recruit soldiers. After they were brought back to Xichuan, they mixed with Shu soldiers and got 3000 people. They were divided into three armies, wearing yellow hats and called Yellow Head Army.

Cui Mou once served as a festival commander in the Zhongwu Army, and he highly praised the good fighting skills of Henan sergeants.After the promotion of Jiannan Xichuan Jiedushi - to be fair, it's like you are the leader from an ordinary prefecture-level city to a sub-provincial city - I am very dissatisfied with the soldiers of Shu who are content with the status quo and do not want to make progress, so I decided to get some Henan "struggles" to come over, change the atmosphere of the army, and improve the combat effectiveness.

The ones who have just crossed the river are the genuine "Yellow Head Army" (the Zhongwu Army also wears a yellow hat). Their real combat effectiveness is very strong, but their morale is not strong enough, which may be related to the last-class treatment they have suffered for a long time.In the previous battle of Honggu, the Zhongwu Army followed Cao Dashuai, and the troops were destroyed.However, they did not loot the place after they were defeated, and they were more civilized than the Zhaoyi Army.

At this time, the Zhongwu Army on the ground in Hedong still has about 6000 people, [-] are in Daizhou, and [-] are in Jinyang Kinki.

Yesterday, after Li Kan made the decision to capture Fanzhi County, the local army horses in Hedong dragged along and moved slowly. Only coach Zhang Yanqiu sent thousands of Fanhan cavalry to cross the river in advance and guarded the surrounding area.

Since the Zhongwu Army had to rely on Hedong for military supplies, they still had a certain respect for the military commander. After the order was issued, they completed the crossing of the river early, and lined up outside Fanzhi County to cover the actions of the follow-up brigade.

Li Kan crossed the river in the second batch under the escort of Tielindu soldiers.He was very angry at Hedong Jiangmen's silent boycott. In the morning, Feng Yin had already dispatched more than a dozen messengers, asking Zhang and Guo Zhu to quickly rectify their troops and cross the river, but the effect seemed to be limited.

At that time, Shao Shude escorted Li Kan to Hebei.There were also a large number of Tuan villagers who came with them, and they began to set up camp to prepare food, grass and equipment.

Shao Shude looked at Li Kan, who frowned, and silently arranged for the soldiers to deploy.

He understands Li Kan's mood very well. When he took up the post in Hedong, he originally wanted to do something, but he was constrained by the gatekeeper, and it was difficult to do anything.He must be able to understand the feelings of Cao Xiang and Cui Jikang very well now, but unfortunately the two are dead and can no longer exchange their experiences.If there is a chance to see Dou Han in the future, I can chat and talk about the battle of wits and courage with the local indigenous forces in Hedong.

In the afternoon, the army continued to cross the river, but their movements were still slow. Only a part of the Yicheng Army, more than 2000 people, and more than a thousand soldiers from the Daizhou town drove thousands of local peasants across the river.In other words, not counting the auxiliary soldiers, only more than 8000 cavalry soldiers arrived on the north bank of the river all day, and camped about three or four miles away from Fanzhi County.This efficiency is too low, and the core reason is that the Hedong army, which is the main force, is not active.

The night of the 27th was peaceful and eerie.

Shao Shude climbed high and looked into the distance, but saw that the Fanzhi County not far away was completely shrouded in darkness, and there was no light.I don't know where the main force of Li Guochang's army is mentioned in the intelligence. There are tens of thousands of people. Even if there are many cavalry, it is impossible to hide them completely.It's a pity that there are only more than a thousand cavalrymen crossing the river, and they have to guard the safety of the commander's tent, and it is impossible to spread out too far to search for the enemy.Otherwise, at least you can determine how big the surrounding safety zone is, and you don't have to be constrained to do things.

Shao Shude didn't sleep well all night.After getting up and patrolling the night several times, he believed in the combat effectiveness of Tielindu's soldiers, but he didn't dare to joke about the lives of himself and Jishuai.In the event that the enemy was hiding near the camp gate, no matter how brave the sergeants were, they would make mistakes in a panic, and he could not afford this result.

There is and only Tielindu is the only capital he has accumulated since he joined the army for five years.The rest, such as money, contacts, etc., are not reliable!In troubled times, there is nothing more valuable than an army that can serve itself.

On May 28, the sky was gloomy and the wind picked up suddenly.People from the Hedong Army Brigade who were crossing the river shouted and their speed slowed down.In the morning, Li Kan was going out to inspect the camp. According to the system, the cavalry went out first, followed by the infantry.Shao Shude took Li Kan, most of Tielindu's guards, to a small high slope about two miles away from Fanzhi County. The Zhongwu Army and the Yicheng Army were in front of the left and right, and more than a thousand cavalry were plundering behind the right. field formation.

"There are [-] rebels in Fanzhi County. Most of them are the Daizhou town soldiers who surrendered to Li's father and son. It's not difficult to get them. I'm afraid that the soldiers will not die." Li Kan's mood was getting worse and worse in the hunt for the North Wind. .Laying down Fanzhi County was already the result of his lowering his goals.If according to his original intention, this patrol, tens of thousands of troops should go north together to recover all the lost land in Daizhou.If possible, hit another dozen bottle-shaped villages to cut off the most important traffic passage between Yunzhou and Weizhou.

It's just that the various behaviors of General Hedong made him very irritable along the way.There is no explicit opposition, but it is secretly confronting, such a military heart, it is impossible to have a decisive battle with the enemy.But you can't go home empty-handed, with so many people hunting north, don't you want to spend money?Laying down Fanzhi County was almost barely explained.In the future, I will talk about it later. The battle with Hedong Jiangmen is a long-term one, and it cannot be solved overnight.

At noon, just as Li Kan finished his patrol and was about to return to the camp, he suddenly heard the rumbling sound of hooves on the distant horizon.Shao Shude's face changed, just as he was about to say something, he saw Li Kan turned over and dismounted, returned to the original small high ground, and looked carefully.

Shao Shude saw Li Kan leaving and returning, and without waiting for his orders, he ordered the soldiers of Tielindu to deploy urgently on the spot.They formed a thick small circle around the small high ground, with long spears on the outside, infantry bows on the outside, and four full reserve teams of 200 people, ready for battle.

In fact, if Li Kan didn't return just now, if he directly rode his horse back to the camp, it should be too late.It's just that it's more embarrassing, it will damage the prestige of his commander, and it may also lead to the collapse of other troops, and their morale is not very high.It's too late to say anything now. The cavalry, which is mostly the enemy, is already very close. It will run again, and it will be overtaken halfway. It is better not to run.

There was a commotion in the two towns of Zhongwu and Yicheng who were lined up in front of the more than [-] soldiers and horses.They looked back and saw that Li Kan's handsome flag was still standing high on the small slope. They suddenly put out their thoughts of running away, and braced themselves to fight.

Hedongdu coach Zhang Yanqiu had just crossed the river at this time. When he saw the enemy cavalry coming, his face changed greatly. He immediately brought hundreds of cavalry around him, took over the command of the original [-] cavalry, and then did a little bit. After the mobilization, the horse team was divided into three sections, slowly accelerating, and greeted the enemy cavalry brigade, which was also gradually increasing its speed.

"Zhang Yanqiu is interesting!" Shao Shude praised. All the soldiers of Tielin have done what they can do. Now it depends on what step the friendly army can do.If you can hold back the main force of the incoming enemy cavalry, then there is no big deal. If you can't hold back, the infantry will fight to the death.

Enemy cavalry is still relatively well-organized.Even in the process of charging, they still divided a team and rushed straight to Zhang Yanqiu's team, trying to block it.The main force of the battle cavalry continued to move forward, speeding up, aiming at Li Kan's position, and rushing straight away without wavering.

Hedong cavalry desperately intercepted.The war cavalry was blocked, and the rangers scattered to attack the flanks of the rebels. Thousands of cavalry on both sides were caught in a chasing melee on the field.

However, the enemy cavalry took the lead in the end. Even if they divided their troops to block them many times in the middle, there were still six or seven hundred cavalry who escaped the interception and did not dare to take a detour.

Chungwu and Yicheng infantrymen flew out in waves of arrows, and shot down the large group of the five tribes from the north, which were scattered and distinguished, and the rest were not afraid, but aroused their ferocity, and they brought the speed of the horse to the extreme , rushing towards the small slope where Li Kan is located with the momentum of thunder.

Shao Shude has taken off his bow, and his expression is solemn.The enemy cavalry came very strangely, the timing was good, and the goal was very clear, that is, Li Kan, the leader of Hedong.At this time, any blind movement is wrong, and the only way is to fight to the death to contain the momentum of the enemy's cavalry attack, and then rely on the strong force to strangle it.

"Bang!" "Pfft!" "Crash!" Under the dense rain of arrows, the charging horse team collided with the long lance of Tielindu almost instantly.The sword and shield fighters in the first row desperately tried to block the enemy's spears and horses, but the strong impact almost knocked their bodies apart.The sword shield hand and the long lance hand slammed down several rows, not necessarily dead, but it was true that they were hit by the strong impact.

But the enemy's charge didn't stop there.Tielindu's long lance array has not been broken down, on the contrary, it is still slowly recovering, and they have passed the most dangerous moment.

"Shoot!" Beside Li Kan, the two hundred soldiers who acted as a reserve team continued to use bows and arrows to shoot deadly arrows at the enemy cavalry that rushed into the formation.They were sitting on horses, with an obvious target and no speed. They were basically living targets for bows and arrows.Li Kan's personal soldier Feng Yin also led people to join the shooting ranks. A dense rain of arrows poured down from the small slope, shooting down one enemy cavalry after another.

"Your grandma's, let me down!" In the chaotic crowd under Xiaopo, Lu Huaizhong waved a fallen door flag and swept down three enemy cavalry one after another.This guy is really strong, and the door flags that he usually needs to carry are like toys in his hands. Wherever he sweeps, the enemy cavalry will be knocked down.

The soldiers of Tielindu had already recovered from the chaos of being charged at this moment. They did not need to say hello, and they started fighting automatically in groups of three.The routine is basically the same as that of Lu Huaizhong. One uses a hooked sickle spear to restrain the war horse, the other uses a long weapon to knock him down, and the other uses a horizontal knife and a round shield to go up, taking advantage of the precious time window when the enemy cavalry lands to kill him quickly. .

Infantry, in fact, as long as they are not afraid and do not retreat, most of them have an advantage in the face of the enemy cavalry that is charging into the system.Later generations of Song people in the northern expedition, when fighting head-on, the elite cavalry of the Liao Kingdom could not rush the infantry, but suffered heavy losses, so that Brother Yeluxiu set the military principle of "no war in a row".

The soldiers of Tielindu are all veterans.The officers were basically born in the Tiande Army, and they may have dealt with cavalry more often than infantry, and they are very experienced.The soldiers are not raw melon eggs, especially those from the Zhaoyi Army. Once they solve their ideological problems and have the courage to fight, killing enemy horses that have lost their speed is like chopping melons and vegetables.

To put it bluntly, they are all professionals.As long as they didn't turn around and run away at the moment of the battle, but used a long lance like a forest to resist them, then the next situation would slowly turn to them.

(End of this chapter)