Tibet.

Chapter 1352 A Crucial Battle (Part )
Guo Ziyi was leading his army and walking slowly on the grassland in the east of Songmo Prefecture. The grassland here was vast, without trees and hills. One could see dozens of miles away at a glance, and it was not easy to be ambushed.

However, Guo Ziyi was still very cautious and sent out a large number of scouts to explore and patrol within a radius of 50 miles of the army.

That morning, a scout reported, "We have spotted the main force of the Khitan army fifty miles ahead, about 80,000 to 90,000 troops!"

Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and nodded. This number was consistent with the number Ren Tianling had told him before. Without external support, the total strength of the Khitan army would not exceed 100,000.

Xi Wanli smiled at Guo Ziyi and said, "General, the enemy really wants to concentrate their forces to defeat them one by one!"

Guo Ziyi smiled faintly and said, "Yelü Salad really knows the result but not the reason. Doesn't this old man know that if we divide our troops and march north, they will be easily defeated one by one?"

Any tactic has its pros and cons. Guo Ziyi divided his troops and marched northward in order to allow the enemy to concentrate their forces to deal with him.

'Concentrate your forces and defeat them one by one', it sounds good, but once you concentrate your forces, what will happen to your old nest?
Yelu Salad only thought of quickly defeating one of the Tang troops and then turning around to defeat another, but would the others be defeated so easily?

However, it is indeed easy for the enemy to concentrate their forces and defeat them one by one if they divide their troops. Yelu Salad is not a fool. He made this decision after weighing the pros and cons again and again, and it is the most advantageous option for Khitan.

So the key here lies in strength and knowing yourself and your enemy.

Guo Ziyi fought against the Khitan army in Youzhou and Liucheng, and wiped out 70,000 Khitan troops. He understood the strength of the Khitan army, and he was even more aware of his own strength. Even without the support of firearms, they could still defeat the enemy. Now with more powerful firearms, the combat effectiveness of his army is far more than just 60,000 people.

Guo Ziyi immediately ordered: "Quickly inform General Nan Jiyun and order his troops to make a detour to the west and cut off the Khitan army's retreat!"

After a pause, he gave another order: "Order General Ma Lin to lead the army to speed up and march north to destroy the Khitan's lair!"

The two teams of soldiers galloped away on horseback, and Guo Ziyi immediately gave another order: "Order the army to assemble immediately!"

"Woo——"

The Tang army's assembly horn sounded, and 60,000 troops began to gather rapidly towards the central army where Guo Ziyi was.

Guo Ziyi had made sufficient plans before deployment. When he deployed troops on the eastern front, he deliberately shortened the distance between the central line and the eastern line. In fact, Nan Jiyun's 50,000 eastern line troops were only about a hundred miles away from the central line and could arrive in less than a day.

The reason why Guo Ziyi brought 30,000 infantrymen was because he brought the best of the best!

He brought all 8,000 heavily armored infantrymen of the Tang Dynasty with him.

After the battle to annihilate the Japanese army was over, reinforcements from the imperial court arrived, including 3,000 heavy crossbows and 30,000 arrow mines. Together with the 2,000 heavy crossbows that the Tang army had previously possessed, the number of heavy crossbows reached 5,000, forming just enough to form a 10,000-strong heavy crossbow army, with two people in a group and six arrow mines in each group.

Of the remaining 12,000 men, 10,000 infantrymen formed the central army's spear formation, and 2,000 soldiers were responsible for 30,000 camels.

In fact, all the 30,000 infantrymen marched on horseback, and only dismounted and fought on foot when fighting.

Two hours later, 90,000 Khitan troops also appeared on the grassland ten miles to the north.

Yelu Salad personally led an army of 90,000 southwards, intending of course to defeat the main force of the Tang army on the central line in the shortest possible time, and then turn around to fight the Tang army on the other two lines.

Yelu Salad also made sufficient considerations. He set the battlefield in Songmo Prefecture, more than 300 miles away from his old nest, just to buy himself time.

The two armies slowly approached each other, stopped when they were three miles apart, and confronted each other from a distance.

Yelu Salad squinted his eyes and looked at the enemy. The enemy's cavalry and infantry each accounted for half, about 30,000 people each. This ratio was similar to his own. The Khitan army had about 50,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry.

At the front was a row of more than two thousand battle flags with the flags flying. Behind the flags were eight thousand archers, half-crouching on the ground with bows and arrows in their hands, and behind them were spearmen.

Yelu Salad sneered. Could these archers withstand the attack of his cavalry?
"General Cimutai!"

"The humble position is here!"

A general in his thirties immediately stepped forward to salute. His name was Yelu Cimutai, the youngest brother of Yelu Salad and the Khitan commander of ten thousand men.

Yelu Salad said slowly: "You can lead 30,000 cavalry to attack the Tang army formation, and then the army will support you!"

"I obey your command!" The combat of the Khitans and the nomadic cavalry is essentially the same. There are not so many military strategies and tactics. They just rely on numbers and cavalry charges to break through the enemy's formation.

The key is that Yelu Salad wants to win a quick victory. He wants to defeat the Tang army in a two-hour battle. After killing most of the defeated troops, he will quickly turn around to attack another Tang army. He is also afraid that his own base will be empty!

“Woo—woo—”

The prairie horns sounded continuously, which was a precursor to the attack.

The Khitans were not good at using tactics and strategies, but the Tang army was good at it.

Guo Ziyi was particularly good at deception, including strategic deception and tactical deception.

The eight thousand soldiers lined up in the front were not archers, but eight thousand heavily armored infantry. They placed their Mo Dao on the ground, half-squatted on the ground, but held bows and arrows in their hands.

But their armor was rather special, and they placed their Mo Dao on the ground, and were worried about being seen by the enemy. Guo Ziyi sent another two thousand soldiers holding battle flags and standing in the front, which blocked the heavy armored infantry behind them.

There were also 10,000 heavy crossbow soldiers armed with large yellow crossbows, hidden among the spear soldiers.

Guo Ziyi had fought against nomadic cavalry for many years and was very familiar with their attack modes. Generally, there were three modes. The first was a small-scale attack, sending 10,000 troops to attack. This was more of an exploratory attack.

The second mode is to attack with medium-sized forces, sending 30% of the cavalry to charge and break through the opponent's first layer of defense, and then the rest of the army will attack in full force.

The third mode is a full-scale attack, with all troops pressing forward. This situation often occurs when the enemy's strength exceeds their own, and they can then concentrate their forces to attack the enemy's central army.

Currently, the Khitan army has more troops than the Tang army. They will not choose the third mode, but will only choose between the first and second modes.

If the Tang army seemed too strong, the enemy would often adopt the first mode and use a small number of troops to break the Tang army's long-range strike advantage.

Sending heavy troops to attack from behind was obviously disadvantageous to the Tang army.

Guo Ziyi seized on the enemy's eagerness to defeat the Tang army and used this method of showing weakness to lure the enemy into launching a large-scale cavalry charge. Once the Khitan cavalry attacked, it would be difficult for them to withdraw.

Guo Ziyi's strategy of luring troops was successful. Yelu Salad only saw 8,000 archers of the Tang army, and the Modao on the ground were blocked by the flag-bearing soldiers in front.

At this time, the earth began to tremble, and 30,000 Khitan cavalrymen launched an attack, overwhelming and charging towards the Tang army formation.

Guo Ziyi shouted sternly, "Heavy infantry, prepare! Bannermen and spearmen, retreat!"

Two thousand flag soldiers retreated quickly. They took the longbows from the heavy armored infantry, each of them carried four bows on their backs, and retreated to the rear.

Eight thousand soldiers of the Mo Dao Army picked up the Mo Dao on the ground. Suddenly, a cold light flashed.

The last time they bullied the Japanese soldiers because they were short and had small horses, so they used battle formations to deal with them. But now it is no longer possible. Facing the attack of tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry, they must use the most powerful wall formation.

Yelu Salad's heart sank suddenly. How did the opponent's bow and arrow turn into a long sword? It was a Mo Dao. A trace of bitterness arose in his heart. He felt that he had fallen into a trap.

But it was impossible to withdraw the army. This was the characteristic of nomadic cavalry's attack. Once they attacked, it would be very difficult to withdraw. It was not just a few dozen cavalrymen who could just rein in their horses and turn back.

This is an army of 30,000. Millions of soldiers are speeding on the battlefield at the same time. It's like thousands of cars speeding on the highway at the same time, very close to each other. If hundreds of cars suddenly stop in the middle, it will inevitably cause a serious chain accident.

If the army wants to stop, it must start from the end, with the last row stopping first, and then stop row by row from the back to the front. This requires years of training for tens of thousands of cavalrymen.

Even the Tang cavalry could not achieve such tacit understanding, let alone the Khitan army that was hastily assembled from various tribes?
If we forcefully stop, it will not only cause heavy casualties, but also cause chaos, giving the enemy cavalry an opportunity to take advantage.

Guo Ziyi was well aware of this, which is why he dared to quickly restore the formal deployment after the enemy army launched an attack.

Ten thousand spearmen retreated, leaving a gap two hundred steps wide. Ten thousand heavy crossbowmen rushed out of the spearmen and quickly took their positions. Large crossbows were placed on the soldiers' shoulders, and five thousand arrows were pointed at the thirty thousand cavalrymen who were coming in an overwhelming manner.

(End of this chapter)