Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 711 It’s my turn
Wen Qin was really defeated!

Huo Jun and Wen Qin had agreed that raising a white flag would be a signal for them to retreat. Wen Qin wanted to hold on, but he overestimated his men's fighting spirit. After several fierce attacks by the Wei army, his troops were defeated without waiting for the white flag to be raised.

Wen Qin was in the middle of the battle, and wherever he could see, the soldiers he relied on were crowded and turning around to flee. Even though some of them were veterans who knew that running away might make them more likely to be killed, they still chose to flee out of fear.

If someone took the lead in fleeing, it would affect more Han soldiers. Soon, due to the local rout, the Wei army's offensive became more fierce, forcing Wen Qin's troops to retreat again and again. The soldiers could no longer hold on, and they could only flee in a hurry, leaving behind a large number of corpses.

Seeing the soldiers fleeing in disarray, Wen Qin hurriedly called out to his left and right, trying to get them to stop and fight, but to no avail, and instead led to more deaths.

"General, our army can't hold on any longer!"

The attendant pulled Wen Qin's arm and said anxiously: "There are still Han troops to support us, so let's run away now!"

Wen Qin looked at the crowd pressing backwards. Due to the current situation, he could only sigh and had to lead his men to issue an order to withdraw troops in advance.

Then, the Yaqi symbolizing Wenqin moved backwards, and the confused soldiers in the formation retreated under the crowd and the guidance of the Yaqi.

If we look down from the sky, we can see that Wen Qin's phalanx is retreating to the rear. Seeing Wen Qin's troops retreating, the Wei soldiers in front of the formation cheered loudly and rushed forward to kill.

Linghu Jun laughed happily and said, "Wen Qin boasts of his bravery and always looks down on other generals. But today he was defeated by me, which shows that he is nothing more than that!"

Linghu Jun said with high spirits, "Pursue, and make sure to defeat Wen Qin, and then fight the Han army with the power of victory."

"promise!"

Linghu Jun had set his ambitions since childhood, so he studied classics and martial arts. Thanks to the shortage of talents in the Wei army and his uncle's promotion to a high position, he became a general.

Since the offensive and defensive situation changed between Han and Wei, Linghu Jun set a high ambition, willing to be the wing of Wei, protect the Wei royal family, achieve success and return home in glory.

Defeating Wen Qin today was only the beginning of his meteoric rise. Being the vanguard of the army and defeating Huo Jun was his next goal.

"kill!"

Linghu Jun drew his sword and pointed it forward. The drum beats became more and more intense. In order to gain military merit, the Wei army soldiers bravely pursued the defeated soldiers.

Soon, the defeat of Wen Qin's troops attracted the attention of the Han army. Due to the delay in the spread of news, the first person to discover Wen Qin's defeat was not Huo Jun, the commander of the army, but Ding Feng, who led the Hun army.

At the same time, Zhou Cang and Quan Cong had already reached the left and right wings and had their first encounter with the Wei army. Behind the two armies of Wen and Yu, the Kui army had been delayed for quite some time in setting up their formation, so they marched forward in a thin and long horizontal formation under the sound of drums and flags, still some distance away from their target position.

Soon, the news of Wen Qin's defeat was known to the officers and soldiers of the Hunhui Army.

Huo Quji rode up on his horse and whipped his whip, saying, "General, Wen Qin's troops have been defeated, and now his army is fleeing."

Ding Feng rode his horse to the front of the square formation and saw Wen Qin's defeated soldiers. He was a little angry and said, "Didn't we ask Wen Qin to wait a little longer?"

Huo Quji looked anxious and said, "Our army has not yet reached the expected position. If the Wei army is allowed to pursue us here, I am afraid that the governor's plan will not be successful."

Huo Quji was the son of Huo Xiong. He studied with Sima Zhi in his early years and was assigned by Jiang Ji to work as a clerk in the army at the age of 16. After years of military experience, Huo Quji was transferred to be a general because of his military strategy, and now he has become a general in the army of the Hun Kui Army.

Ding Feng's mind was working quickly, thinking about how to deal with this emergency.

Instantly, Ding Feng, who had rich combat experience, shouted: "I will lead the cavalry to charge in formation. The Wei infantry will be afraid of the cavalry's charge and will stop to regroup. You lead the infantry to continue forward and join forces with the troops on both wings to stop the Wei army's offensive."

"promise!"

In order to prevent the Wei soldiers from breaking through the defense line from causing more damage and to complete the task on schedule, Ding Feng called on the thousand cavalrymen of the Hun Hu army not far away to gather and line up towards him.

"Woo!"

Under the sound of the melodious horn, the cavalry of the Hun Hu army galloped towards Ding Feng at a fast speed. Under the command of the officers, they quickly formed a cavalry team, wearing armor and holding spears, riding their horses forward, full of pressure.

Seeing such a burly cavalryman blocking the front, Wen Qin, who was trapped by the defeated army, breathed a sigh of relief. He raised the flag as high as possible and asked his troops to follow him to the flank to avoid interfering with the Han cavalry. The defeated soldiers were already scared and dared not fight against the Han cavalry with their weak bodies. They fled to the two wings.

The horn of the cavalry of the Hun Hu Army was special, and when it was blown, Huo Jun felt something strange, because he did not order the cavalry to charge, and it was obviously Ding Feng who summoned the cavalry.

Huo Jun looked calm and said, "Send someone to the Hun army to ask what happened."

"promise!"

The scouts carrying small flags rushed to the army along the gaps in the army formation. Before the scouts reported back, the cavalry sent by Ding Feng had arrived.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, Wen Qin's troops retreated prematurely. In order to prevent the Wei soldiers from taking advantage of the situation and ruining the commander-in-chief's plan, General Ding led the cavalry to form a formation and charge, forcing the Wei soldiers to form a formation to buy time for the infantry." The cavalry replied.

"Chengyuan is smart!"

Huo Jun praised him and said to Jiang Ji: "Without Cheng Yuan's cavalry attack, the situation would be uncertain now."

The battlefield is always full of surprises. Even a strong general like Han Xin needs the assistance of generals like Cao Shen and Guan Ying. Excellent generals can use their own agility to solve many temporary events in execution, so that the battlefield can proceed as scheduled.

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "When the infantry of the Hun Hu Army is in place, the commander-in-chief will order Yu Shao to lead the troops to retreat, and the commander-in-chief's formation will be complete!"

This time when Huo Jun led his troops into battle, he did not use the traditional central assault formation, but a more complex flank assault formation, which was called '｜―｜'.

Use a smaller number of troops to entangle a large number of Wei troops in the front, concentrate elite troops on the two wings in order to defeat the enemy on the flanks, and then surround the central army from behind in order to annihilate the Wei army.

Now Wenqin and Yushao's troops were bulging forward, which was actually a pawn used by Huo Jun to attract the Wei army and buy time for the army to reach the predetermined position. And they withdrew their troops according to regulations to lure the Wei army deeper and complete the last step of the pocket formation.

Wen Qin's early defeat and the failure of the Hun Kui army to reach the designated location as scheduled would fundamentally undermine Huo Jun's plan. Ding Feng's use of cavalry to attack and pursue the Wei soldiers would buy time for the Hun Kui army's infantry to make up for Wen Qin's early defeat.

While Huo Jun and Jiang Ji were discussing, the pursuing Wei soldiers were pursuing the Han army in a scattered phalanx. In order to gain military merit, many of them bent over and cut off their ears during the pursuit; or due to physical problems, their steps were inconsistent and the phalanx was obviously dispersed.

When Ding Feng saw the Wei soldiers appear before him, he ordered his troops to wave flags and beat drums, then he rode out on his horse, wielding his spear, and hundreds of cavalrymen followed closely behind him, charging into the Wei formation!

The cavalry charged too fast and too hard, and the Wei soldiers were caught off guard. Ding Feng was the most courageous, running with a spear in hand, killing more than ten people in a row.

A blind warrior of the Wei army tried to attack Ding Feng from the side with a spear, but Ding Feng was prepared and swung his spear horizontally, first breaking his ribs and then stabbing him in the chest. The warrior spurted blood from his mouth and died screaming.

The pursuing Wei soldiers were attacked and killed by the Han cavalry, with hundreds of casualties. The formation was immediately disrupted and they fled in all directions. However, Ding Feng did not linger in the battle because he knew that the more compact Wei army phalanx was just ahead, and using cavalry to attack the infantry phalanx was a dead end.

Ding Feng was very clever. He led his cavalry to move diagonally away from the chaotic battlefield and handed the battlefield over to the infantry of the Xionghu Army.

The infantry of the Hunhui Army lined up in formation as promised. From a distance, one could see shields with pictures of ferocious beasts, long and sharp lances, and gleaming iron armor, like a giant iron-scaled dragon hovering over the plains, waiting for the Wei soldiers.

When the infantry of the Hun Hu army was in position and the white flag was raised to signal the withdrawal, Yu Shao, who had been enduring the attack of the Wei army, felt as if he had been saved and led the infantry to retreat in batches. However, it was impossible to withdraw at a critical moment on the battlefield.

Yu Shao's troops were able to retreat in an orderly manner at the beginning of the retreat, but as the Wei army held on tightly, they had to sacrifice soldiers to retreat. Fortunately, Yu Shao's troops were not defeated like Wen Qin's troops, and their withdrawal route was orderly, which did not cause a big impact on the formation of the Hun army.

At this time, Wang Ling discovered that the central army was moving forward collectively, and that the troops in the front kept sending good news. He was ecstatic and ordered his troops to advance.

But Linghu Jun was the first to report the news. The scout said, "General, after General Linghu defeated Wen Qin, he encountered the elite troops of the Han army and is now unable to break through the formation. I beg you to send reinforcements."

"allow!"

Wang Ling held the reins tightly and said in a calm tone, "The enemy has formed a battle array of infantry and cavalry for ten miles. Now Wen Qin and Yu Shao have fled. I estimate that Huo Jun does not have many soldiers and horses. If we can break this formation, our army will win!"

Wang Ling then ordered, "Order Le Chen to lead the elite troops to reinforce them and make sure to break the enemy formation. General Linghu has been fighting so hard until now, and he and his troops are mostly tired. Maybe they can withdraw and rest."

"promise!"

The situation is promising now. The Han army has been defeated in two divisions. Wang Ling has seen the dawn of victory. He firmly believes that if he can defeat the Han army's center, he will be able to draw out troops to attack the two wings of the Han army, complete the feat of defeating Huo Jun, break Huo Jun's myth of invincibility, and save the Wei Dynasty from crisis.

As time approaches noon, if one looks down from the sky, the Han army's formation has become the formation preset by Huo Jun, that is, a half-moon-shaped formation, which is similar to "concave".

The central army of Cao Wei defeated the two armies of Yu and Wen, and its central army penetrated deep into the Han army, while its left and right wings continued to fight with the Han army, forming a trapezoidal army formation similar to a "convex".

The change in the formation of the Han and Wei armies meant that the two armies would enter the second half of the battle, and it would be Huo Jun's turn to take action in this stage.

"Grand Marshal, now that Ding Feng is leading the infantry to block the Wei army's strong attack, should we order Quan Cong and Pang De of the right army to attack and break the enemy's left wing?" Jiang Ji asked.

Huo Jun put his hands on the carriage railing and said calmly: "Order Wen Qin and Yu Shao to gather the defeated troops and eat as soon as possible. Order the right army to move out and break the enemy cavalry. Let Pang De go to the left army to disperse the Wei cavalry and do not let them break into the battle formation."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)