Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 687: Like a God!
At the time of Shen (16:), the sun sets and the sunlight gradually weakens.

On the vast fields, Wei soldiers marched in formation, with flags flying and long lines.

Inside the queue, Sun Li had a serious expression on his face, riding his horse and observing the movements around him.

The clerk Teng Xi drank the water from his water bag, looked at the setting sun, and said with a smile: "General, the Han army has not attacked for a long time. Now it is getting dark, how dare the Han army attack at night?"

As he spoke, Teng Xi looked at the chariots protecting the column and said, "Now that we have chariots as our walls and a million arrows, even if we have 40,000 strong soldiers, we cannot break through the formation. General, don't worry!"

Sun Li remained calm and said, "Although we have chariots as a barrier, Huo Jun is no ordinary general. Since he took command of the army, he has been invincible in every attack and battle. How dare I, with my few soldiers, be arrogant to him!"

Teng Xi boasted, "General, if you succeed in your mission to retreat to Huo, your reputation will naturally rise, and your name will spread to Qingqi!"

"Humph!"

Sun Li pulled the reins tight and snorted, "If we can repel the enemy this time, I will submit a petition to Your Majesty, asking for Sun Quan's punishment for his crime of disrupting the country."

"This~"

The clerk Teng Xi hesitated for a moment and said, "Since Sun Cheqi took over the army, he has made few mistakes. The defeat in Qidong was not due to Sun Cheqi's lack of strategy, but because General Xiahou was unable to defeat the enemy and led his troops to advance lightly, and was defeated by Huo Fan, causing the army to run out of food and had to withdraw from Qi County."

Sun Li could not help but speak in a loud voice, "Langya and Donghai counties are nearly a thousand miles in area. In the past, they were afraid of the enemy and did not dare to defend Kaiyang, so they retreated to Muling. Now they are afraid of the enemy and dare not defend Zhucheng, so they retreated to Linzi. If Linzi cannot be defended, will they retreat to Hebei again?"

Sun Li really couldn't stand Sun Quan's "pig" strategy. He didn't dare to fight Huo Jun in the field, so he just said it directly. Why did he give up Langya and Donghai counties so high-soundingly? He gave up Kaiyang, so that Huo Jun could go to Ju County unimpeded. Now there is a lack of strategic space, and retreat needs to retreat to Qi County.

If Kaiyang had been retained, the war would have been unfavorable and they could have retreated to Muling. But Sun Quan had a wild idea and hoped to give up the two counties of Langya and Donghai in an attempt to stretch Huo Jun's supply line and defeat him. Therefore, how could Sun Li, who was the governor of Langya at the time, not be angry about Sun Quan's actions?
Listening to the dissatisfaction suppressed in Sun Li's heart, Teng Xi didn't dare to say much.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves interrupted their conversation.

The scout came running and reported: "General, the Han army has made unusual movements, and now a large number of them are heading towards us!"

Sun Li looked into the distance and shouted, "All troops, form chariots, prepare bows and crossbows, and prepare to meet the invaders!"

"promise!"

At Sun Li's command, 8,000 Wei troops, infantry and cavalry, and 256 chariots quickly deployed in battle array on the plain. However, the Wei army formed a battle array of more than 50 chariots, each forming a semi-rectangular shape, which merged with the square array opposite, and the two battle arrays of more than 100 chariots formed a standard rectangle.

The four formations formed two matrices, and the eight thousand Wei army infantry and cavalry were divided equally into two matrices. The rear formation was led by Sun Li, and the front formation was commanded by Hu Zhi. The two matrices echoed each other and were only a hundred steps apart.

During this period, although the Wei army soldiers were not skilled in operation, because they were composed of left and right columns and had cavalry cruising, the Wei army matrix was gradually formed and did not cause major problems.

"Boom!"

As the Wei army was maneuvering their chariots, a burst of enthusiastic drumbeats rang out across the hills and plains, and more than 2,000 cavalrymen rushed down the hills enthusiastically. The sounds of galloping and neighing rose and fell, blending with the shouts of the Wei army.

Pang De was ordered to attack, and he commanded more than 2,000 cavalrymen to form a semi-arc and get close to the chariot formation. In order to avoid being covered by the Wei army's shooting, only a few hundred cavalrymen entered the range of the Wei army's bows and crossbows.

"Whoosh!"

Hundreds of Han cavalrymen rushed forward, bows taking advantage of the horses' speed, and the riders took the lead in shooting arrows, hundreds of arrows fell sparsely on the Wei army formation. Some were blocked by the carriages, or the arrows missed, causing no major damage to the Wei formation.

"General, should we send out cavalry to engage them?" asked the clerk Teng Xi.

Sun Li narrowed his eyes and said, "The cavalry should not be used lightly. Let the soldiers fight back with strong crossbows."

"promise!"

The shooting flag was waved, and the Wei soldiers behind the chariot formation pulled the trigger of the crossbow. Hundreds and thousands of strong bows and crossbows were shot out, accompanied by a sharp sound of breaking through the air, and fell into the Han army's cavalry formation.

Because the cavalrymen kept moving around, most of the arrows missed their targets. But even so, occasionally a few arrows hit the target, causing the Han cavalrymen who were hit by arrows to groan.

Seeing the Wei soldiers fighting back with bows and crossbows, the Han cavalry immediately retreated, fearing that they would be hit by arrows from the chariot formation.

Pang De stopped his horse and looked, and said, "Keep an eye on the Wei army's chariot formation. If the enemy cavalry does not move out, our army will not advance."

"promise!"

Seeing that the Wei army had stopped moving, Pang De rode his horse to meet Huo Jun who was watching the battle on the hill.

Pang De dismounted and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, I led my cavalry close to the battle formation, and the enemy fired bows and crossbows at us. The Wei cavalry hid in the battle formation and dared not to move out lightly."

"good!"

Huo Jun held his sword and looked out, taking in the current situation of the Wei army. It was visible to the naked eye that the Wei army was divided into a matrix, with both infantry and cavalry hiding in it. The barricades and spears in the matrix formed a forest of spears, as if telling the Han army not to approach easily.

Huo Jun pointed at the immovable Wei formation and said, "Although Sun Deda is wise and brave, and has strict military discipline, he does not know the essence of the chariot formation, and will eventually be defeated alone."

"I have been in the army for more than 20 years, and have been involved in battles in both the north and south. I am familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of the four types of military forces: infantry, chariots, cavalry, and boats. Even Generals Han, Bai, and Wei are not as good as me!"

Huo Jun said with a proud look, "Now Sun Li is actually waiting for me with his chariot array. This is a disgrace to himself!"

Huo Jun's words seemed to be self-boasting, but in fact they were stating the facts. He had been fighting since Xiakou, and had fought for most of his life, from Wu and Chu to the Central Plains. The battles he had fought in various terrains, such as rivers and lakes, mountains, castles, swamps, plains, and mountain roads.

Because of the number of wars he experienced, the complexity of the terrain, and the frequency of his campaigns, he could not compare with Han Xin, Bai Qi, and Wei Qing. Moreover, Huo Jun lived in a later era hundreds of years later, which had experienced many military revolutions, and the cavalry had gone from the bottom to the mainstream, which was not comparable to the period of Bai Qi and Han Xin.

As for Wei Qing, who created the three types of soldiers: infantry, chariots and cavalry, he had no extensive contact with naval battles. There is even no record of the above three people commanding a navy.

Today, Huo Jun dares to say that Han, Bai, and Wei’s understanding of the four types of military forces, namely infantry, cavalry, chariots, and boats, is not as good as his own. Although there is some self-praise, it is the fact.

Today, seeing Sun Li leading the chariot formation and advancing and retreating calmly, everyone might be worried about it, but for Huo Jun, who is well versed in military affairs, he does not have so many worries!

None of the four types of soldiers can dominate the world, even the main infantry in the army. Only by integrating the four types of soldiers can one dare to say that he can dominate the world.

Whether it is the chariot formation used by Li Ling, or Liu Yu's Que Yue Formation, Zhuge Liang's Eight Formations, or the chariot formation used by Sun Li today, they are essentially variations of the chariot formation.

Since it is a variation of the chariot formation, it cannot change the natural shortcomings of the chariot formation. The chariot formation trades mobility for defense, which means that the chariot formation naturally lacks mobility on the battlefield, and is not as mobile as infantry and cavalry when facing a battle.

Therefore, when using chariots, it is necessary to match them with cavalry or other strategies to ensure the initiative on the battlefield. If the shortcomings of chariots cannot be compensated, not only will the initiative on the battlefield be lost, but the army will also be forced to be passive.

In addition to the lack of mobility, because the chariot array is composed of chariots, and the chariots are repaired by various woods, the method of breaking the chariot array is obvious, that is, to break it with fire.

The method of breaking the chariot array is so simple. Under the burning of a big fire, no wood in the world can withstand it. Boats can be defeated by fire, so why can't chariots be burned by fire?
Once the chariots were burned, the morale of the Wei army naturally collapsed as they had lost their outer barrier.

Now Huo Jun sent Pang De to lead the cavalry to attack. Seeing that Sun Li was defending his position and did not dare to fight, he knew that Sun Li did not understand the subtleties of chariot formations, so he said that Sun Li brought disgrace upon himself.

Seeing Huo Jun's overflowing self-confidence, Jiang Ji reminded him implicitly, saying: "The governor helped the Han Dynasty in times of crisis. Han Xin needed to assist Emperor Gaozu with Xiao and Zhang. My own achievements are not as good as the governor's."

"Ha ha!"

Huo Jun heard Jiang Ji's words of consolation and said with a smile: "I, Kong Ming, Yi De and Yun Chang assisted the late emperor. I have Zi Ji to lead the army. I dare not take all the credit."

Jiang Ji smiled and said, "I am already hungry. Can I order Generals Wen Xiang and Cheng Yuan to lead the troops?"

"Can!"

Huo Jun nodded and smiled, saying: "After the victory, let's have a meal, and order the two generals to advance!"

Jiang Ji seemed to remember something and said, "Commander-in-chief, Hu Zhi is in charge of the front army. He and I were friends in our early years. He is not good at military strategy, but is proficient in civil affairs. Therefore, we can attack Sun Li first. If Sun Li's army is defeated, I am willing to persuade him, and Hu Zhi will surely raise his army to surrender."

"Good!" Huo Jun sat upright on the chair, pointed at the rear of the Wei army with his white whip, and said, "Order Wen Xiang to lead the troops to attack Sun Li, and Cheng Yuan to slowly approach Hu Zhi."

"promise!"

The flags signaling the troops to move out were waved, and drums and gongs sounded like thunder. Generals Xu Sheng and Ding Feng led their troops to move in response.

A little later, the Han army deployed among the plains and hills. The front row soldiers drove the food carts in front, with heavy wooden boards erected on top. It was obviously a shield cart modified by the Han army. Behind the shield carts, the Han army archers were scattered, and the strong men advanced with large shields held diagonally.

To break the chariot formation, you can use fire attack. But fire attack alone is not enough to defeat it. You also need to use shield cars/chariots to join the formation and defeat the enemy with the method of trains. Using magic to defeat magic is the most effective method.

Huo Jun had observed the battlefield before, and in addition to discovering that the Wei army was well guarded, he also discovered the natural environment that the Wei army was in. Now August is autumn, the weather is dry, and strong winds are prevailing. The Wei army is moving away from the Wei River.

In such a natural environment, if the operation could be handled properly, by connecting the chariots together, loading hay, pouring kerosene, and using the help of strong winds, the chariots of the Wei army connected end to end could be burned down with a big fire.

Under the enthusiastic drumbeats, shield carts loaded with hay moved forward slowly. Because the hay was covered by the wooden shields, the Wei army had no idea what was behind the carts. They actually learned that the Han army was using shield carts against them.

"General, what should we do if the Han army uses shield carts to approach the battle?"

Seeing the Han army approaching, Teng Xi shouted nervously: "Huo Jun is proficient in chariot formations, do you have a way to defeat me now?"

When Sun Quan proposed to use chariots to guard the rear, many people objected, fearing that if Huo Jun continued to use chariots, there would be ways to break it, such as digging trenches. However, after Sun Quan and Liu Ye's deduction, they believed that the chariots were in the process of retreating and the Han army would hardly have enough time to build fortifications and destroy them, so they strongly advocated their use.

Sun Li clenched his fists and said calmly: "Use strong bows and crossbows to shoot them. The enemy soldiers will stand outside the battle array with long spears and use carts and wood. The Han soldiers will not be able to get close!"

"promise!"

"Projection!"

In order to cause damage to the Han army, the Wei army threw a large number of shield carts over the shield carts, trying to fall into the Han army formation. But Xu Sheng was well prepared, with only a thousand men pushing the carts, and another 500 men following in a scattered formation, carrying large shields.

The Wei army's archers kept shooting arrows until their hands were exhausted, but they did not cause much damage to the Han army. Seeing that the Wei army's arrows were no longer as sharp as before, and the shield carts were approaching the Wei army's chariot formation, Xu Sheng waved a flaming red flag, signaling the soldiers pushing the carts to set fire.

At this time, inside the Wei army's formation, the infantrymen held their large shields at an angle and their spears erected high, ready to fight to the death, hoping to inflict heavy damage on the Han warriors who were boarding their chariots and breaking through the formation. However, the Wei soldiers never waited for the Han army's attack.

"what is that?"

Suddenly, the Wei soldier looked through the gaps between the chariots and saw a sticky liquid sticking to the outside of the carriages, with oil dripping down, and asked.

"Oil?"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a hundred porcelain jars were thrown into the chariot formation in a parabolic manner. When they hit the ground, kerosene spilled all over the ground; when they were thrown onto the big shields, kerosene covered the shield surfaces; when they were thrown onto people, the Wei soldiers cried out in pain, unaware that their clothes were soaked by kerosene.

A can of kerosene fell near Sun Li, and it was all over the ground. Sun Li came forward curiously, touched the kerosene with his hand, sniffed it carefully, and suddenly his face changed drastically, and his whole body turned cold.

After recovering, Sun Li shouted hysterically, "Hurry up and prepare the sand and soil, the enemy is going to use fire attack!"

However, before Sun Li could finish his words, the Han soldiers had already thrown torches onto the hay carts and even onto the Wei chariots.

The next moment, the fire source touched the dry grass, and the fire suddenly jumped up. Under the blowing of the strong wind, the flame wrapped around the shield car and began to burn fiercely; or the torch touched the Wei army's chariot, and the kerosene on the surface quickly burned when it met the flame, making a series of hissing sounds.

In an instant, a fire shot up into the sky on the west side of the Wei army's matrix. The flames engulfed the chariots and quickly formed a wall of fire. And because the Wei army's chariot formation was connected end to end, the flames continued to engulf the surrounding chariots, frightening the Wei army's infantrymen to retreat one after another, not daring to approach the chariots, and huddled together with the soldiers in the rear, becoming chaotic.

The next moment, the Han soldiers took out special arrows, stained them with fire, and then threw them into the Wei army formation. Fortunately, one of them touched the kerosene thrown before, and the fire grew rapidly, enveloping several nearby Wei soldiers.

"what!"

The Wei soldiers were previously exposed to kerosene, and the fire spread all over their bodies. They rolled on the ground in pain, trying to put out the fire with sand. However, some Wei soldiers were panicked and nervous, asking for help from the surrounding soldiers, which completely disrupted the formation. The war horses were frightened by the fire and neighed, disrupting the Wei formation completely.

After five waves of rockets, the Han soldiers led by Xu Sheng pressed forward, each holding a bow and crossbow. After approaching the burning chariots, thousands of arrows broke through the air and shot towards the Wei army in the chariot formation.

"what!"

The chariot array was not large to begin with, and the burning chariots took up a small amount of space. The rockets and kerosene disrupted the order of the troops in the array. The arrows fired today left the Wei army with nowhere to hide, and they all headed in the direction away from the arrows.

The Han soldiers seemed to know the movements of the Wei army. They followed the fire and continuously covered the Wei soldiers in the formation with arrows, leaving them with no way to escape and only able to bear the damage from the Han army's arrows.

For a moment, the rock-solid fortress built by Sun Li was destroyed and the soldiers scattered under the cover of fire attack and rain of arrows, and the formation was in chaos. No one dared to fight to the death.

Looking down from the sky, one could see the fire burning along the rectangular formation of vehicles, like a hot burning ring of fire. There were slight sparks in the ring of fire, and the people and horses in the center were fleeing.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Jigai could imagine the miserable state of the Wei army in the chariot formation. He couldn't help but take a breath and said, "The chariot formation is closed at the beginning and end, and the fire is burning everywhere. The soldiers and horses in the formation may be burned to death."

Huo Jun said calmly, "If my guess is correct, the Wei soldiers will find a chance to disarm the chariot formation and escape from the fire formation."

The reason why chariot formations cannot become mainstream is that it is difficult to control the battlefield. You need to have a very deep understanding of the battlefield situation to succeed. First of all, the wind direction of the battlefield, secondly, you need to be close to a water source, and finally, you need to understand the enemy's generals.

Take Liu Yu as an example. He was well aware of the flaws of the chariot formation, so he arranged the chariot formation by the river. If the enemy ignited the chariots and set them on fire, he could use the river water to put out the fire or even evacuate by boat.

Including Huo Jun's battle with his back to the Wan River, he also made use of the water source of the Wan River and the disembarkation formation to ensure that the retreat route was unobstructed.

Of course, not all Queyue formations were successful. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when Xiao Yan raised his army, the Qi general Wang Zhenguo retreated with his back to the Huai River. At first, he used the chariot formation to repel Xiao Yan, but when Xiao Yan used the train formation, the Qi army was defeated and fled, and countless of them drowned in the Huai River.

Huo Jun naturally didn't know about such an unknown battle example, but it didn't prevent him from knowing the disadvantages of the chariot formation and then breaking it with fire.

Why the chariot formation sometimes wins and sometimes loses? The fundamental reason is that it is necessary to master the essence of war and to deal with various battles in a changeable and flexible style. But no matter what, Huo Jun made Sun Quan's attempt fail because Huo Jun used fire attack again!

Sun Tzu said: "So the military has no fixed position, and water has no fixed shape; those who can adapt to the enemy's changes and win are called gods."

When he was young, Huo Jun could only grasp the essence of it; when he was old, Huo Jun's art of war had reached perfection. It is just as Sun Tzu said, he who wins by taking advantage of the enemy is said to be a military genius!

It was because his military skills had reached a high level that Huo Jun dared to boast about launching a northern expedition to destroy Wei!

As expected, the situation was just as Huo Jun said. Sun Li's chariot formation was destroyed by Wei soldiers, and a large number of soldiers and horses tried to escape from the east and north sides of the formation. However, they were blocked by the soldiers led by Ding Feng in the north, and the fleeing Wei soldiers went east.

"It's time to attack!"

Huo Jun pulled the white whip and gave the order.

Pang De saluted with the utmost respect, then mounted his horse and summoned the cavalry to surround and kill the fleeing Wei soldiers.

At this time, with a large number of soldiers fleeing, Sun Li was unable to effectively command his subordinates.

Teng Xi was afraid of the rain of arrows from the Han army and wanted to flee. He called to Sun Li and said, "General, the chariot array has been burned and it is difficult to survive. The situation is hopeless now. Please follow me and flee!"

Sun Li's hair was disheveled, and he sighed while pressing his sword, saying, "I was ordered by Your Majesty to lead the army and govern Langya. Now that I have lost the city and the army, how can I face Your Majesty again?"

"Victory and defeat are common in the military. Most of the cavalry generals are in the front, so we can attack them!" said Teng Xi.

"Our army was annihilated. How can Sun's cavalry repel the enemy? Now the situation is over!" Sun Li said helplessly: "Besides, there is a gap between me and Sun's cavalry. If I lose the army and return, I will be punished by military order."

"The Mandate of Heaven is unshakable, and the Han Dynasty will rise. General, why don't you surrender to Han instead of seeking death here?" Teng Xi advised again.

Hearing this, Sun Li burst into tears and said, "When I was sentenced to death, Emperor Wu pardoned me. I have always been afraid that I would not die properly and would be a traitor to Emperor Wu. Now that the Wei Dynasty is about to fall, someone should sacrifice himself for the country. How can I surrender to the enemy?"

Seeing that persuasion was of no use, Teng Xi could only leave in tears.

Xu Sheng took advantage of the fire to break out and led his infantry into the battle array. Sun Li and his troops formed a battle array and killed and wounded several people with his spear. However, because he was fighting alone, he was eventually killed by Xu Sheng's troops, and all the remaining enemies in the battle array surrendered!
(End of this chapter)