Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 899 The Tragic White Tiger Legion
Xia Jing, thousands of miles away, ushered in the second good news.In just one month, Liangzhou and Ganzhou were captured, and all civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were very happy. After "Xiangfu News" and "Xiajing Express" published the news in the new issue, the whole country suddenly became a sea of ​​celebration, and the people rushed to say goodbye and congratulate each other.This does not mean that the people's consciousness is already so high and patriotic, but that as early as the day the army set off more than a month ago, the two major newspapers followed Ye Chen's will and analyzed the benefits of the imperial court's conquest of the Hexi Corridor from the perspective of golden business. It even mentioned similar analysis and demonstration reports about how much the people's income would be expected to increase after the imperial court obtained the Hexi Corridor.

The Xiangfu Kingdom court led by Ye Chen has good credibility among the people, and the people know that the two major newspapers are the mouthpiece of the court, so they are all full of expectations for the changes that can be brought about after the Hexi Corridor is taken down.

However, this kind of happiness did not last long, and it was dispelled by the eight hundred miles urgent report from Lanzhou.

In the second year of Tianding, on June 25th, 21 members of the family of Han Hu, the head of the White Tiger Army, were robbed by the Wusheng Army's Tubo Amdo tribe who sneaked into Qingshui County.On the same day, An Duo, An Duo, was bombed in Wu Shengjun's mansion, killing and injuring most of his family members.

On June 26, Han Hu was furious. He ignored the dissuasion of Yang Yanguang, the deputy commander of the White Tiger Army, Fu Hongliang, the military justice envoy, and Zhang Shuping, the magistrate of Lanzhou, and led an army of 2 to Wu Shengjun for revenge. Lanzhou revenge Anduo blind Ke.In a battle between the two sides, the [-]-strong army of the White Tiger Army defeated the [-]-strong Anduo Xiake, and chased them all the way to Wu Shengjun.At this time, Ying Cheng and Lin Buchi, who reached an agreement with Huangfu Tong who was going to Qingtang again, suddenly appeared in Wu Sheng Army with an army of [-]. Fortunately, such a big incident happened, and the spies of the Ministry of Security in Wu Sheng Army and Hehuang area had already been alarmed. , Notified Han Hu in time.Han Hu, who was extremely angry, had gradually calmed down at this time, and realized that something was wrong, and decisively retreated overnight before Ying Chenglin Buchi led an army of [-] to catch up.

Unexpectedly, just fifty miles away from Lanzhou City, disaster suddenly fell from the sky.

At that time, there was a sudden sound of drums and horns from all sides, and the arrows shot from the crossbow, like an iron cloud covering the sky and the earth in the dark night, flew towards the White Tiger Army's team, turning into a rain of arrows.In an instant, many soldiers died unexpectedly before they even had time to react.Han Hu's central army suffered the most violent blow because his commander-in-chief flag was too eye-catching even in the dark night. Although the soldiers tried their best to block the fatal attack for their general with their bodies, Han Hu's right Still got an arrow in the shoulder.He cut off the shaft of the arrow with a single knife, endured the pain and gave orders continuously, trying to form the troops into formation.

However, under the continuous blow of arrows from the Tubo people, although the officers of the White Tiger Army at all levels tried their best to organize their own troops, they were too tired and slowed down their reaction speed. When the small phalanx defense circles were formed, many people had already been shot to death.However, even in this state, the White Tiger Army still did not collapse under such a sudden blow.

No one knew how many Tubo troops there were, but from the hillside and the woods, Tubo rushed out like a tide, and rushed towards the White Tiger Army under the cover of bows and arrows.The White Tiger Legion, which had always had an advantage in long-range firepower, was completely suppressed by the enemy this time, allowing the Tubo people to rush to their positions unimpeded.

"Set up the formation! Shoot arrows!" Han Hu roared ferociously, directing the soldiers to build the formation.

In the midst of the chaos, the senior officers of the White Tiger Legion still kept their heads clear.He commanded the soldiers around him to use the horses as a barrier, hide behind the horses and draw their bows to fight back.As some panicked soldiers continued to form formations under the scolding of the officers, they quickly formed an infantry phalanx of nearly a thousand people.The power of nearly a thousand people shooting with fast crossbow arrays is far greater than that of the same soldiers shooting arrows aimlessly. They fired volleys again and again, causing great damage to the Tubo people.However, the battle formation of nearly a thousand people soon attracted the attention of the Tubo people, and became the target of the Tubo people's repeated attacks and shots.

All officers tried their best to command their subordinates, while fighting, while shrinking the distance from other troops.

They were marching in four columns just now, they were too thin and could easily be scattered by the enemy, so they had to move closer.

At this time, the organization of many troops has been disrupted, and the soldiers are not completely confused. It is all thanks to the recent military system reform in Xiangfu Kingdom. Soldiers and officers are looking for their commanders and subordinates based on clothing and breast ornaments. , People from different battalions and different companies were temporarily matched together to form a temporary formation, tenaciously resisting the enemy's attack.They uphold the same pride. After the Xiangfu country infantry formed a defensive formation, it was difficult for any army to defeat.

Once the soldiers went into battle, tension and murderous intent soon replaced the initial panic, and the voices of officers at all levels were like heavenly sounds to them.When officers at the level of battalion and company commander stabilized their positions, the panic of the White Tiger Army gradually subsided.

Only at this time can the generals of the White Tiger Legion regain their composure and consider their current situation.

The battle site chosen by the Tubo people was a long and narrow area not suitable for cavalry combat, so the Tubo people used bows and crossbows as cover to weaken the defense of the White Tiger Army.And the infantry carried out the impact again and again, trying to break through the defense line of the White Tiger Legion.At this time, each of them was sure that the Tubo cavalry must be waiting somewhere. When they started to retreat, these cavalry would chase after them and completely ruin everyone in the White Tiger Army here.

But it is also impossible for them to stay here for a long time.

The strengths of the White Tiger Legion cannot be used here, and the strength of the White Tiger Legion has been greatly weakened by the Tubo raids.Thousands of soldiers were killed or wounded, and more than 20 officers were martyred.In the absence of reinforcements, sticking here is tantamount to calling oneself dead.

The only way out is to fight and retreat and break out of the encirclement.

At this time, Han Hu had put aside the hatred of the death of the whole family and the regret of sending troops this time, and had no distractions in his mind.His chief of staff, Wu Changqing, had already died in battle. At this moment, he only wanted to let his subordinates flee back to Lanzhou as much as possible, even if he died here.In other words, he thought he deserved to die and impulsively led his loyal soldiers to beat the Tubo people in order to avenge himself. In the end, he only owed death to such a situation.

However, at this time he cannot die.According to the military law of the White Tiger Legion, it is already a capital offense for him to dispatch the army without permission this time, so he must go back alive to stand trial.His only hope is to save some strength of the White Tiger Army.He didn't want to be a sinner of the Xiangfu Kingdom, or a sinner of the White Tiger Legion.He silently estimated that they still have about [-] war horses. As long as they leave this area, they will not be wiped out by the Tubo people.

Ma Sichun, the commander of the First Brigade of the Infantry, rushed to him with red eyes, and hissed, "The battle is dangerous! Lead the troops to break through quickly, and the last general will be regarded as the end of the army." After speaking, before Han Hu agreed, he raised his arms and shouted: " Brothers without horses follow me!"

Han Hu gritted his teeth, spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and roared sharply: "After the horseless ones are finished, those with horses will follow me to break through!"

The soldiers of the White Tiger Legion tacitly took cover alternately and changed their formations. Soldiers who lost their horses or were shot and killed were consciously included in the new rear army. .Originally in the first brigade of infantry, the soldiers who still had horses did not leave, because the Tubo people's attack became more and more fierce.Their eyes were red with blood, and they all chose to stay without hesitation.

Before preparing to break through, Han Hu organized a counterattack.During the short gap between the two attacks of the Tubo people, five hundred dead soldiers suddenly charged at the Tubo people, and beat the Tubo people so hard that they couldn't defend themselves.But the generals of the Tubo army responded very quickly, and soon these soldiers were submerged in the crowd of Tubo soldiers.

Grasping the short time when the attention of the Tubo army was attracted, the remaining main force of the White Tiger Army began to retreat.

After he stabilized his mind, Han Hu found that the Tubo people did not encircle them from all sides, but left a hole in the northeast direction. He still remembered that it was the entrance of a fork in the road when he came here. At that time, he asked the staff in charge of intelligence and knew where There is a wide area suitable for cavalry to gallop.

There must be Tubo cavalry waiting behind.

However, the White Tiger Legion also needed that wide area at this time.

Wen Zitao, commander of the second cavalry brigade, led the remaining [-] cavalry to form the front army, taking the lead for the breakout troops.His task is to break through that opening at all costs and fight a way out for the army, and if there are heavy soldiers ambushing on that way, then he and the two thousand soldiers are the victims of testing the enemy's reality.Before getting on his horse, Wen Zitao glanced back at Pao Ze, who was in charge of the rear guard. It was like isolated rocks in the rough sea. These mortal warriors stood there proudly, resisting the fierceness of the Tubo people round after round. attack.Because of the terrain, the formation of the White Tiger Legion looked weak no matter how they looked at it. People kept falling, and people died almost every moment.The rest of the soldiers who were about to break out were still attacking the enemy with their bows and crossbows. In the dark night, there were constant bangs and screams of men and horses.

Wen Zitao wiped the liquid on his face, whether it was blood or sweat, spat hard on the ground, jumped on the horse, raised his knife and shouted: "Kill the dog!"

"Kill the dog day!"

"Kill the dog day!"

Shouts rang out, resounding through the night sky.

(End of this chapter)