Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 733

Now the two parties met in a narrow road on the street, and there was no way to avoid it. Under the orders, the soldiers all formed a formation with shield soldiers in front and pikemen in the back, and slowly advanced.

The previous cavalrymen turned into archers, looking for high-up support on the houses on both sides of the flanks. Now the streets are lined with dilapidated thatched houses, and many people are staying in them. When they hear people trampling and climbing on the roofs, they can't help but panic, or start from the ground. He could escape through the back door or through the window, and it was very chaotic for a while.

The archers on both sides quickly found their positions and drew their bows to shoot at each other, but what they shot was not the Chinese shield formation, but the other side's archers.

Both sides understood the truth. They had to clear the opposite side of the enemy's range first before they could confidently suppress the enemy's infantry. So for a while, arrows rained down like rain. There was no obstacle on the roof to cover them. From time to time, someone was hit by an arrow and fell from the roof.

Zhang Liaojun had anticipated this situation, and soon a dozen shield soldiers rushed to the roof to form an array. They put up their shields in the front row to block their bows and arrows, and the archers behind took the opportunity to shoot through the gaps in the shields.

At this time, Yuan Shujun's archers were caught off guard, and most of the arrows they fired hit the opponent's shield. However, they were hit by arrows one after another without any cover. The situation was immediately at a disadvantage. They had to lie down and let the shield soldiers below give them. Come up and guard.

But the shield soldiers below were at the front, and no one could care about them, because they were about to engage Zhang Liao's army in front of them!

The next moment, countless dull sounds sounded. This was the sound of shields on both sides clashing. At this time, the shield soldiers at the forefront of both sides did not draw out their swords to chop. Instead, they put both hands behind the shields and turned sideways to resist with their shoulders. Center behind the shield, and then pushed towards the opposite side with all his strength.

After countless battles, this has been proven to be the most effective action. With your hands free to swing your sword, it is difficult to cause damage to a fully armed enemy. Using brute force to push the opponent down or push them to the back is the most effective way to destroy the enemy's formation. effective method.

Feeling the overwhelming pressure from the opposite side, the soldiers in the front row of both sides gritted their teeth and persisted. At the same time, the soldiers in the second row also put their shoulders on the backs of the soldiers in the front row and pushed forward together.

While the two sides were wrestling and reaching a balance of power in a short period of time, the spearmen from the third row of both sides took action.

They half-crouched, lowered their spears, stuck them out from between the legs of the front row soldiers, and stabbed the enemy soldiers' calves silently.

Screams rang out, and the shield soldiers in the front row were shot in the legs, but many fewer people fell to the ground than expected.

Because those who were shot and fell to the ground were all injured in the feet, and many attacks that stabbed the calves were blocked by the leg armor of both sides.

Neither of them were new soldiers, so they naturally knew how to wear leggings. The most expensive ones were, of course, the leggings covered with iron armor. However, not everyone could afford this kind of leggings, and there were many cheap alternatives.

For example, for wooden and bamboo materials, especially thick moso bamboo, as long as a batch of two halves are needed, the semi-curved bamboo pieces can cover the calves. One moso bamboo can make more than a dozen sets of leggings, which is high quality and low price.

Moso bamboo is quite tough and can easily block more than a dozen thrusts from spears. Therefore, after the soldiers in the front row of Yuan Shujun felt the impact on their legs, they relaxed a little and continued to push hard.

But the next moment, they only felt severe pain in their legs, and they felt that the opponent's weapon was pulling hard on their calves and ankles!

They couldn't help but scream in agony. Someone looked down and saw that the opponent was not holding an ordinary spear, but a long sword and a long halberd!

The difference between the halberd and the spear gun is that the former has an extra horizontal branch, so it can not only stab but also draw. This is specifically for the situation where the enemy's frontal armor cannot penetrate.

Seeing that Zhang Liaojun's thrust was not going in, he immediately changed his thrust to a hook, thrust his Chang Ge into the back of the enemy's leg, and then pulled back hard, cutting the ankles of a large number of Yuan Shujun's former shield soldiers!

This was beyond Yuan Shujun's expectation, because there are very few soldiers using halberds on the battlefield today. This is because the cost of halberds is much higher than that of spears, and the combat speed is not as good as that of spears. Moreover, it is hooked (iron shield). (a type with a hook) is very restrained, so it slowly disappears on the battlefield.

So with the disappearance of the halberd, the expensive hook was replaced by the cheaper shield. Today's battlefield is dominated by shields, spears and knives.

If they had fought during the day, Yuan Shu's army would have been prepared, but Zhang Liao's army was attacking at night. Yuan Shu's army couldn't see clearly what weapons the opponent's rear troops were holding, and they were caught off guard and fell to the ground one after another.

At this moment, the outcome of the battlefield was determined. Yuan Shu's army's front line collapsed so quickly that the front row fell to the ground. Before the people in the back rows could react, the opponent's shield was pushed fiercely.

Pushed by the shield, the soldiers in the back row of Yuan Shu's army either retreated in panic or fell to the ground and were trampled on. The entire formation collapsed in an instant.

At this time, Chang Nu, who was supervising the formation of the Chinese army, was shocked when he saw this and quickly ordered the soldiers to fight to the death. However, now that the bows and arrows on both sides were suppressed and the Chinese army was broken into, there was no way to save the day.

At this time, Chang Nu was extremely puzzled as to why the opponent was so difficult to fight. This was the first time that his formation collapsed so quickly!

Until this moment, he didn't know who was attacking Luoyang, but as soon as he met his face, he felt that the day was going to be very bad. He made a decision immediately and shouted: "The whole army is coming!"

"If we retreat now, no one will survive!"

As a result, he saw that the soldiers responded very little and their morale was low. He shouted again: "Get out of the way in the middle, I will charge the formation!"

After Yuan Shujun heard this, he opened a passage with a loud noise. Changnu had already galloped forward on his horse, held up his halberd, and led dozens of horses straight towards Zhang Liao's main formation!

There is only one sentence left in the history books of Changnu himself: "In the first month of the first year of Jian'an, Cao Cao listened to the advice of Xun Yu and Cheng Yu and sent Cao Hong to lead his army west to meet Emperor Xian. However, Changnu and the general of the Wei Dynasty, Dong Cheng, resisted the danger and blocked the passage. Cao Hong was not allowed to pass. .”

Now he is using cavalry to charge the formation. In fact, the real lethality is not much. The most important thing is to boost morale. As long as he uses this charge to withstand the opponent's formation and form a stalemate again, he can wait until Zhang Xun arrives from the flank. Support, attack the enemy from both sides!

Under his leadership, the soldiers of Yuan Shu's army rushed forward and filled up with hundreds of shield soldiers, and began to push back towards Zhang Liao's army. The archers of Zhang Liao's army on the houses on both sides fired arrows at Chang Nu, and the archers of Yuan Shu's army also raised their heads to fight back. , the situation reached a stalemate again.

Chang Nu looked around and rushed to the front of the formation, only to find that the opposite side had also made a way. He rushed out with his crescent halberd and shouted: "Chang Nu, do you still recognize so-and-so?"

Changnu identified it carefully and then lost his voice: "Are you Zhang Liao?" "Didn't you die with Lu Bu?"

He didn't mention Hao Hao, but as soon as he mentioned Zhang Liao, he got angry and said, "Shut up!"

"If Cao Cao hadn't colluded with you rebels and intended to hijack the emperor, how could Marquis Wen end up like this?"

"Today I will avenge Marquis Wen!"

After saying that, he roared loudly, lunged forward on his horse, and stabbed Chang Nu directly in the face!

Seeing Zhang Liao's approach, Chang Nu did not dare to be careless, because when Yuan Shu's army and Lu Bu's army fought before, the two had fought several times, and Chang Nu was at a disadvantage every time. If not for the attack on Huaicheng, Lu Bu retreated, and in After one fight, Chang Nu thought that he would definitely be defeated by Zhang Liao.

He immediately steeled himself, moved his halberd away, and wanted to stop Zhang Liao, but Zhang Liao turned his horse around, turned sideways, and let out the dozens of large crossbows that were already fully stringed behind him.

Chang Nu was shocked. Before he could react, Zhang Liao had already waved his hand, and more than a dozen four-foot-long crossbow arrows were shot out like a storm.

Puff puff puff, Chang Nu and his mount were shot into hedgehogs, and he and his horse fell heavily off the horse.

Changnu fell to the ground, blood gushing out from the holes all over his body. He breathed weakly and said: "You...can't win without force..."

Zhang Liao had already turned his horse over and raised his crescent halberd high, "You can tell me this after you go down and see Marquis Wen."

After saying that, he inserted his crescent halberd and directly pierced Chang Nu's throat.

When Yuan Shu's army saw that their general was dead, the morale of Yuan Shu's army dropped sharply. The few remaining generals in Qiannu wanted to order his soldiers to resist, but Zhang Liao's cavalry had already come around on both wings and began to kill them. Now surrounded by enemies on three sides, Yuan Shu's army was completely defeated. After collapsing, Zhang Liao took advantage of the situation and rushed towards Yuan Shu's palace.

On the east road of the city, General Zhang Xun wanted to go around and block the city gate, but he was blocked by Xu Huang and his troops.

His situation was worse than that of Chang Nu, because he walked close to the city wall, and the high places of the city wall with gaps on both sides were already occupied by Yuan Xijun's archers.

Although Zhang Xun's soldiers held shields for protection, they could not protect the front from above. If they protected from the front, the arrows above their heads were like rain, and soldiers kept falling down.

Zhang Xun was forced to order the soldiers to stick to the city wall and reduce the bow and arrow attacks on their heads. As a result, the opposite side began to throw stones downwards, which made the soldiers miserable.

Xu Huang was much more relaxed. He let the shield soldiers form an array in front, and the archers behind him fired arrows with the friendly troops on the city wall. He didn't even have to rush into the formation, and Zhang Xun was already at a huge disadvantage.

Seeing that Zhang Xun couldn't find a way out, he could only be cannibalized by the opponent. When he was thinking about whether to retreat immediately and then escort Yuan Shu to escape, he found that the opponent's attack had gradually slowed down.

A voice sounded above the head, "General Zhang, I met you in Huaicheng years ago. How are you now?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Zhang Xun raised his head and saw the other person's face. Against the background of the torch, he found the owner of the face from his memories and said in a voiceless voice: "A fierce tiger?"

"It's you?"

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "Yes, it's me."

"General Zhang, I am attacking the city today to clear the gates. If you dismount quickly and accept the surrender, you can still save your life. Look behind you, there is no way out."

Zhang Xun found that his retreat had indeed been cut off by Yuan Xijun, and said in a solemn voice: "Xun is Lord Zhong..."

Yuan Xi interrupted him, "Zhang Xun, for the sake of Mr. Qiao's sake, he said before he died that he could give you a chance."

"I don't have time to waste words. If you don't agree with Mr. Qiao's wishes, just come and kill him."

Seeing Yuan Xi being so aggressive, Zhang Xun also knew that he was cornered. He sighed deeply, dismounted and surrendered.

However, Yuan Xi did not let Zhang Xun be tied up, but instead asked him to be brought to the top of the city. He said: "There are many people and soldiers in the city, and I don't want to do more killing. I hope the general can help me persuade him to surrender."

Zhang Xun also knew that he immediately agreed and followed Xu Huang.

Yuan Xi looked at Yuan Shu's palace in the distance and thought that even if Yuan Shu ran away this time, his vitality would be severely damaged and he would never be able to make waves again.

If Yuan Shu really wanted to kill himself, it would be a bit troublesome. If he wanted to show off his face, it would be best if he could commit suicide.

(End of this chapter)