Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 203 Battle at Hongchi ()

All fighters win by right combination and by surprise.

Therefore, those who are good at making surprises are as infinite as heaven and earth, and as inexhaustible as rivers and seas.

Many people misinterpret the so-called miracle as a conspiracy.

In fact, "zheng" refers to the normal way of using troops, while "qi" (qiyi) refers to the reform method of using troops, that is, flexibly changing tactics according to changes on the battlefield.

As for the conspiracy, under normal circumstances, only when there is a huge gap in the ability of the two commanders, when one party feels that it is on the high ground of IQ, or when it feels that there is no chance of winning in a head-on battle, can one place hope on it.

After all, clever plans are usually accompanied by risks, and if they fail, you will be in danger.

The two sides in the battle of Hongchipi, whether they were Huan Wen, Wang Meng, Murong Ke, or Murong Chui, all four of them were famous and could be regarded as the top figures in the world.

The strength of the Chu-Liang coalition and the Yan army were similar. No one was sure of victory, but both had the possibility of victory. Naturally, they would not take the initiative to seek danger and pin their hopes of victory or defeat on the other's stupidity.

In August of that year, the autumn air was crisp and clear. On the west side of Hongchi Pi, the two armies faced each other.

Murong Ke formed a square formation with 40,000 infantry, and arranged the formation diagonally on both wings. He placed 20,000 cavalry on each side, and left 10,000 cavalry as reserve. The whole army formed a flying geese formation, forming a herringbone formation like wild geese flying.

"Sun Bin's Art of War" says: The formation in the shape of a wild goose is used for shooting.

The advantage of the Wild Geese Formation is to give full play to the power of the shooting arms.

During the war, the cavalry on both wings would shoot from the left to the right, and from the right to the left, forming a crossfire. The arrows could be fired at more angles, and they could also have a more significant suppressive effect.

The Chu-Liang coalition formed a pin-shaped formation, with Huan Wen leading 30,000 Liang troops led by Governor Wang Meng as a defensive support point.

Deng Qiang led Chu's only 20,000 cavalry at the right rear, while he personally led 30,000 Chu infantry in formation at the left rear.

The two sides haven't started fighting yet, but a chilling atmosphere has already filled Hongchipi.

Murong Ke, Murong Chui, Huan Wen, Wang Meng, and Deng Qiang were all looking at the opponent's formation in front of the formation.

Huan Wen said to Wang Meng:

"Today's victory or defeat depends on sir."

Huan Wen knew very well that the key to victory in this battle was whether Wang Meng's 30,000 Liang army could hold its ground under the Yan army's fierce offensive.

Wang Meng said seriously:

"The thirty thousand soldiers of the Liang Kingdom can only repay the Huan family's kindness by fighting to the death."

Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, the Liang army facing the Yan army's attack will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Of course, Wang Meng was not afraid of casualties. He raised his troops for a thousand days and used them for a short time.

Quan Yi suggested that Wang Meng conserve his strength because Huan Wen was stubborn and did not want Liang Jun's elite to die in vain.

There is no chance of winning now, so you should fight to the death.

If Huan Wen can control and defeat Yan, occupy Luoyang, and stabilize his business.

When Huan Wen becomes an autocratic court in the future, Huan Xi will also benefit from this.

At the same time, Murong Ke also knew that the focus of this battle was to defeat Wang Meng's infantry phalanx. As long as Wang Meng retreated, it would inevitably impact the formations of Huan Wen and Deng Qiang in the rear.

When the enemy's position is in chaos, it's time for the melee cavalry to cover them up.

Huan Wen was naturally on the passive side in the battle. The reason was due to the gap in cavalry.

The Yan army has 50,000 Xianbei cavalry, while the Chu army only has 20,000 cavalry, and they are all Jiangnan cavalry. Both the quality of the horses and the combat effectiveness of the cavalry are obviously weaker than those of the Yan state.

Even with Deng Qiang as the cavalry commander, it would be difficult to confront the Yan army at Hongchipi.

After observing the enemy's formation, Huan Wen, Murong Ke and others returned to their own formations.

Not long after, the Yan army took the lead in beating the war drums, and the infantry phalanx and the cavalry on both sides pressed forward together.

After reaching a distance of more than a hundred steps, Murong Ke gave an order and the flag was waved, and the Yan army stopped.

"Dismount and switch to the bow!"

Murong Ke shouted.

It has been three or four years since Huanxi caught Fu Xiong off guard with cavalry and infantry tactics in the Battle of Langshan at the beginning of the seventh year of Yonghe, and gained control of the Hetao area.

This tactics is not profound. The key point is that our cavalry must have an absolute advantage.

Otherwise, if you dismount and shoot, wait for the opponent's cavalry to charge, then mount your horse and change direction, this series of operations will also waste a lot of time and allow the opponent to close the distance.

By coincidence, Murong Ke's cavalry archers were protected by a melee cavalry force that was stronger than the Chu army's cavalry.

Wang Meng saw from a distance that the Yan army dismounted and exchanged for foot bows. He was not surprised. He took it calmly.

Among the 30,000 Liang troops, there were 20,000 heavy infantry and 10,000 armored infantry archers. Liang Jun formed a half-moon formation, with heavy armored infantry holding shields in front to protect the archers in the formation.

Due to the use of the steel filling method, Liang Jun all used steel filling to create standard equipment. Therefore, without causing a huge burden on the finances, he had such a 20,000 heavy armored infantry, including infantry archers. Today, He also temporarily put on armor.

Of course, the armor of the infantry archers is not heavy armor, so they need to be protected by heavy armored infantry with shields.

Huan Wen coveted Liang Jun's heavy armored infantry.

He didn't understand how Huan Xi could maintain such a large-scale heavy infantry given his financial situation. Just making these heavy armors using the traditional steel frying method and hundreds of refining methods would be enough to bankrupt the Guanlong region's finances.

Huan Xi did not intend to hide the steel filling method from Huan Wen, but Huan Wen's subordinates were mixed, and it was difficult to guarantee that the secret would not be leaked. Therefore, Huan Xi could offer the Quyuan plow, but as for the steel filling method, Huan Xi was very careful about it, and Huan Wen was also kept in the dark. inside.

Wang Meng must not be in a hurry to counterattack. He knows that even if the Yan army forms a formation and forms an extremely powerful cross-fire network, facing the airtight shield in front of the Liang army, they can only use projectiles.

As we all know, although projectiles have a long range, their lethality is really limited, especially when there is a group of armored heavy infantry standing behind the formation.

"Fire arrows!"

As Murong Ke's order was conveyed, in an instant, dark clouds rose from the cavalry phalanx on both sides of the Yan army, and endless arrows poured like raindrops into the Liang army's phalanx.

In front of Wang Meng, there were already more than ten personal guards holding large shields protecting him.

No matter how dense the rain of arrows from the Yan army was, the arrows landed on Liang Jun's armor, with tinkling and crisp sounds coming and going, but they could not break through the defense at all, and they were all easily bounced away by the heavy armor.

The infantry archers hid under the large shields and were protected by the large shields and heavy infantry. It was also difficult for the Yan army's arrows to harm the Liang army's infantry archers.

Murong Ke's sight was blocked by the large shield in the front row and he couldn't see clearly the specific situation inside Liang Jun's formation, but Huan Wen behind him could see clearly.

Those Liang Jun were all covered in armor, and even their faces were covered with armor, with only two eyes and nostrils exposed. How could the arrows thrown by Yan Jun from a distance of a hundred steps hit Liang Jun seriously? Armored infantry causes effective damage.

This is also the reason why Huan Wen placed Liang Jun's heavy infantry in the front row.

The Yan army's arrow rain had just fallen, and there was a gap for the volley. Wang Meng shouted loudly and gave way to the archers to fight back.

It's just that Liang Junbu's archers had just left the protection of the big shield, and a new round of arrows from the opponent had already launched into the air. There was no time for Liang Jun to launch a salvo. Liang Junbu's archers could only fire back sporadicly in the direction of Yan Jun, and then Hurrying back under the big shield.

Judging from the battlefield situation, Liang Jun seemed to have fallen into complete passivity and was unilaterally suppressed by Yan Jun's crossfire.

Even though they were only a hundred steps away, facing the arrows fired from both sides, Liang Jun seemed unable to charge against the rain of arrows and cause damage to the Yan army's infantry phalanx.

Seeing that Liang Jun was always on the defensive and unable to fight back, Yan Jun's morale was greatly boosted.

According to their past war experience, as long as they fire a few more rounds, even if they cannot cause heavy casualties to the enemy, they can still effectively damage the enemy's morale, shake their morale, and cause them to lose their position.

Sure enough, after the Yan army fired sixteen rounds, it seemed that Liang Jun could no longer hold on under the heavy rain of arrows from the Yan army.

After leaving more than a thousand corpses on the spot, Liang Jun's formation finally began to retreat slowly.

Xiluo Teng was overjoyed when he saw this and said:

"King Taiyuan! The enemy has retreated. It's time to cover up and kill them. The enemy will definitely be defeated!"

Everyone also agreed and asked Murong Ke to pursue Liang Jun.

They are too familiar with this set of tactics.

However, Murong Ke did not agree to everyone's request. He said:

"The enemy troops were arranged in a "pin" formation. I looked at the enemy's formation before and found that there was a huge gap between the front army and the two armies behind them.

"This is clearly done intentionally by Huan Wen and Wang Meng, just to leave room for the front army to retreat and lure us to attack. When our army gets closer, the enemy army will definitely turn around and fight!"

Murong Ke tried his best to resist the public opinion and forbade the pursuit.

Sure enough, when Liang Jun saw that Yan Jun was not pursuing him, he actually stopped retreating, and the more than a thousand corpses that had been lying on the ground were all resurrected.

Looking at the resurrected 'corpses', the generals of the Yan army all took a deep breath and broke into cold sweat on their backs.

If Murong Ke hadn't stopped the pursuit, the Yan army would have rushed forward to cover up the enemy. When Liang Jun turned around to fight, the Liang soldiers disguised as corpses suddenly rose up and launched an attack. Caught off guard, the enemy's plot might have succeeded.

Wang Meng in Liang Jun's formation and Huan Wen who was watching the battle from the rear also sighed with regret.

Huan Wen said with regret:

"Murong Ke is truly a famous general in the world."

Huan Wen believes that if Yan Jun is another less capable coach, he will definitely fall into the trap.

This was the first time that Liang Jun's heavy infantry appeared in front of the world. It was impossible for the enemy to be prepared. After experiencing sixteen rounds of salvos, the morale of the soldiers declined, and it was reasonable for the formation to retreat.

For this reason, Wang Meng also specially sent out more than a thousand warriors who dared to fight to disguise themselves as corpses to win the trust of the enemy generals and also serve as ambushes.

But Murong Ke still saw the flaw.

Huan Wen knew that it must be because there was too big a gap between the front army and the rear army, but this was also a helpless move.

If a sufficient distance cannot be maintained, once the Liang army retreats, it will inevitably attack the Chu army's formation. At that time, it will be really self-defeating to mess up the position.

　Next chapter is before 9pm.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)