Jiuxi

Chapter 565 [Chaotianque] (Ten)
The smoke of war billowed, covering the sky and the sun.

This battle concerned the ownership of Yongqiu and even the land north of the Yangtze River, and it was extremely fierce from the very beginning.

After more than a month of confrontation and probing, the Qi and Jing armies had been suppressing their anger under the deliberate suppression of Qing Yugong and Lu Chen, and they were ready to vent it on the battlefield.

This is the moment.

On the several-mile-long battle line, the infantry of the two armies engaged in close combat, with countless comrades waiting quietly behind them.

The battle line stretched on, and the military flags fluttered in the wind.

It's like two torrents that have flowed over the mountains meet on this plain, and it's unknown which one will sweep away the other.

Qing Yugong took the lead in making adjustments. General Wulinda led 5,000 cavalrymen from his own left wing and headed towards the outer perimeter of the Qi army's right wing.

This is the position of the Huaizhou Zhenbei Army.

Commander Pei Sui just turned his head to take a look at the Jing army cavalry in the distance, and then continued to pay attention to the battle situation ahead.

In the whistling wind, as Wulinda led the troops forward, his mind suddenly emerged with Sagai's earnest instructions when he left Dadu a few months ago.

No one could resist the order of Emperor Jing. No matter how unwilling Sagai was, he had to obediently withdraw 10,000 cavalry from the Changsheng Army and let Wulinda lead them south to Qing Yugong's camp to await deployment.

All he could do was to encourage Wulinda to cheer up and keep his eyes open, and try every means to preserve this cavalry unit so as to prevent Qing Yugong from using him to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

As the distance continued to shorten, the situation on the right wing of the Qi army gradually came into Wulinda's sight. Under his command, the Jing army's cavalry began to harass the Qi army with mounted archery.

The combat power of the Zhenbei Army ranked first among all the armies in Huaizhou. Although Pei Sui did not make any special adjustments targeting the Jing Army cavalry, relying solely on the strictness and tightness of its own formation, Wulinda did not dare to get too close, let alone rush into the formation hastily.

Lu Chen's response was simple and direct. Ye Jitong led 3,000 cavalrymen of the Dingbei Army to appear on the side and rear of the Zhenbei Army, staring at the 5,000 cavalrymen of the Jing Army calmly and steadily.

Wulinda suppressed the fighting spirit in his heart. If the commander in today's battle was Sagai, he would have directly defeated the opposing Qi cavalry at this time. But now, even if he could do that, it would only add an entry to Qing Yugong's credit book. In addition, Qing Yugong had said so before, so he led his troops back to his own position without hesitation.

After returning to the battle formation, he quickly came to Qing Yugong and bowed his head and said, "Your Highness, there is no flaw on the enemy's right wing, and the cavalry's response was very timely, as if they had anticipated our army's movements."

Qing Yugong said calmly: "Okay, you guys continue to stand by."

"The last general takes command!"

Wulinda bowed and left.

Qing Yugong turned to look at the Fourth Prince and asked, "Your Highness, what do you think the Qi army is planning?"

The war had just entered its initial phase, and the Qi army's intentions were well hidden. Qing Yugong's question seemed a bit difficult, but the Fourth Prince still replied seriously: "Xiao Wangzhi deployed this strange formation today, and the subsequent changes will definitely be different from the past. Your Majesty, this man has always been prudent in his use of troops, and he will most likely wait for our army to reveal a flaw before going all out."

Qing Yugong did not comment: "Your Highness, do you know what the biggest feature of the Qi army's formation today is?"

This time the Fourth Prince shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

He certainly would not underestimate Xiao Wangzhi, but in his opinion, the formation deployed by the Qi army could not be called a formation at all, at best they were just gathered together.

At this time, the general of the front army, Hesheli, sent someone to report: "Your Highness, the strength of the Qi army's vanguard units is relatively balanced. Although the overall situation is that the left is strong and the right is weak, the gap is very small. Judging from the current situation, the Qi army is adopting the strategy of spreading its elite forces evenly on the front line."

"Spread it out flat..."

Qing Yugong repeated these words, and then said to the Fourth Prince: "The seemingly clumsy formation of the Qi army is like a city surrounded on all sides. Although it does not have the defensive capabilities of a real city, it can also isolate the sight of our scouts and hide the position of their main force to the greatest extent."

The Fourth Prince understood immediately.

In a large-scale war like this where there is a head-on confrontation, the so-called strange strategies are just a means for storytellers to attract attention. The real battlefield is mostly tragic and boring.

Take this battle for example, both armies had a large number of scouts and sentry posts, which constantly monitored the enemy's actions, and any changes in tactics would be responded to, just like Qing Yugong asked Wulinda to lead the troops to test the enemy. The right wing of the Qi army did not panic, and the Dingbei army cavalry in the rear quickly came up to support.

This is a clear microcosm.

In short, if the main infantry of both sides are fighting head-on, if you transfer the reserve troops to strengthen the attack, I will also use the reserve troops to resist. If you use cavalry to attack the flank, I will also let the cavalry attack to meet it.

In this way, the war will gradually turn into a situation where the two armies fight each other until one side can no longer withstand the blow of casualties and collapses.

The only way to change this head-on situation is for one side to manipulate the other side's formation and find an opportunity from it.

Such opportunities on the battlefield are often fleeting, and the generals who can accurately capture them are worthy of being called famous generals.

Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince said expectantly: "Your Majesty, have you guessed the intentions of the Qi army?"

To his surprise, Qing Yugong shook his head calmly: "It is not clear yet, but no matter which direction Xiao Wangzhi wants to attack, the Xiashan Army will be a barrier in front of the Qi Army. Your Highness should have studied Xiao Wangzhi's life. This man has two biggest characteristics in using troops. One is that he is very patient and will definitely wait for the best opportunity. The second is that he has the courage to go all out. Once he waits for that opportunity, the Qi Army will go all out."

The fourth prince considered and said, "Indeed, I wonder how the prince plans to lure him into the game?"

"He has to see some flaws."

Qing Yugong spoke concisely, and then said to the people standing in front of him: "Pass the order." "Please give your instructions, Your Majesty!"

"Tell Heshilie to prepare for rotation. The city defense army will go up to replace the Xiashan army later. After leaving the battle, the Xiashan army will retreat from the left and right sides."

"Follow the order!"

"Send a message to Gulijia, tell him to lead the city guards forward as soon as the city defense troops leave their positions."

"Follow the order!"

Several heralds immediately mounted their horses and left the center of the army.

The fourth prince listened quietly and gradually understood.

There is a certain gap in the strength of the three infantry armies of Jing Army. The Xiashan Army is undoubtedly the strongest, followed by the Fangcheng Army, and the Laocheng Army is the weakest.

If one stands in Xiao Wangzhi's perspective, what he sees is that the strength of the Jing army is getting weaker and weaker. No matter what plans he has, when the enemy in front of the Qi army becomes the weakest prison army, this is his best and only chance, and he will definitely do his best at that time.

However, this was an illusion created for him by Qing Yugong.

The key lies in the fact that the rotation of Jing army's infantry was not forced, but an active adjustment by Qing Yugong, which ensured that the strongest Xiashan army could still maintain extremely strong combat effectiveness.

When the Qi army swarmed in, even if they could break through the defenses of the prison army, they would then face the Xiashan army, which was intact and well-rested.

The Fourth Prince looked at Qing Yugong with admiration, but the latter was gazing at the battlefield in the distance with a deep and calm gaze.

At the junction of the two armies, the battle line was several miles long and the ground was dyed red with blood.

At this point in time, Xiashan's army was on the offensive while Qi's army was defending, and Qi's defense line did not show any obvious weaknesses. This was why Hesheli made that judgment and had someone report it to Qing Yugong.

When the military order came from the rear, the experienced Hesheli did not stop the offensive immediately. Too rapid changes on the battlefield might affect the integrity of his own formation, so he just reduced the intensity of the attack little by little.

When the time was ripe, Xia Shan's army retreated across the board. By the time the Qi army reacted and the commander was still thinking, Xia Shan's army had already retreated to the two wings. The few soldiers who were caught in hand-to-hand combat were soon met by their comrades in the city defense army in the rear.

Although it was just an ordinary rotation, one could still see the strength of the Jing army. They could perfectly execute the commander's orders and the overall formation was not scattered.

Under the flag of the Qi army.

After receiving the report from the front, Xiao Wangzhi looked at Lu Chen and said with emotion: "I'm afraid Qing Yugong doesn't know that you know him so well."

Lu Chen said calmly: "Uncle Xiao, this is because Qing Yugong thinks his opponent is you."

Xiao Wangzhi smiled and said, "So you concluded that he would rotate ahead of time and use the weakest part of his troops to lure our army to attack."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Xia Shan's army is indeed an extremely tough opponent. If Qing Yugong insists on letting this infantry fight to the death in the front, it will be difficult for us to break through this barrier. In order to arouse our army's desire to win, he must replace the weakest infantry."

Xiao Wangzhi asked: "Then how do you plan to deal with it?"

Lu Chen said slowly: "If I'm not mistaken, Qing Yugong should think that Uncle Xiao will wait for the best time to attack, but when he withdraws the Xiashan Army, our army will have the opportunity to seize the initiative, so this is enough."

Xiao Wangzhi said no more.

Lu Chen took a deep breath, and when the vanguards of the two armies collided again, he shouted loudly: "Drum beat!"

When the majestic drumbeats resounded between heaven and earth, the expressions of the generals on the Qi army's battle line suddenly became solemn.

Almost at the same time, several loud voices burst out.

"attack!"

It’s a very simple command, even the dumbest person can understand it.

After more than half an hour of passive defense, the Qi army's infantry advanced forward for the first time.

The generals of Fangcheng Army who took over the frontal battle from Xiashan Army suddenly discovered that the enemy on the opposite side did not stay where they were and defend themselves. Instead, they rushed towards Jing Army as the big flags were waving forward.

If one looks down from the air, one can see that the Zhenbei Army on the right wing of the Qi Army is still fighting alone. However, on the plain on the left wing, the Jingzhou Heyang Army, which had previously been resisting the Xiashan Army, is attacking towards the side and front.

Behind them, the Jingzhou Qingxu Army and the Anping Army quickly advanced and bared their fangs alongside the Heyang Army.

"Kill!"

Under the leadership of Qiu Jixun, Zhang Zhan and Xu Gui, three fierce generals of the Jingzhou Army, tens of thousands of elite infantrymen bravely rushed forward and rushed towards the right wing of the Fangcheng Army.

Like an unstoppable hammer, it smashed down hard on the Jing army!

(End of this chapter)