Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 536

The Qin army's biggest weapon advantage over the six countries outside the pass and the Xiongnu has always been the strong crossbow, and this time is no exception. A large number of Han army soldiers equipped with Qin made strong crossbows fired random arrows, and the dense crossbow arrows quickly shot the Xiongnu cavalry. People turned on their backs, people screamed and neighed, and fell to the ground.

Not only that, the iron arrowheads equipped by some Han soldiers ignored the crude leather armor of the Hun cavalry at all, and directly penetrated the armor and shot into the body of the Hun cavalry. I didn't even understand why the armor on my body couldn't work, so I just screamed, "What kind of arrow is this? Why can't our armor stop it?"

Fortunately for the Xiongnu army, despite being hit head-on by the Han army's crossbow arrows, the experienced Hun soldiers still charged non-stop, desperately narrowing the distance from the Han army's circular formation at the risk of being killed or injured by the arrows, in the end. He rushed to the front of the Han army formation at a fast speed to seize the opportunity of close combat, and after paying a certain amount of casualties, he successfully crashed into the Han army formation from three directions, east, west, and north, and violent roars and slashing sounds broke out one after another.

Without stirrups and high bridge saddles, there would naturally be no large-scale impact and trampling. Except for a few Xiongnu cavalry who were particularly skilled in riding, they jumped and trampled their horseshoes heavily on the Han soldiers. Most of the Hun cavalry could only be Reining in the horses in front of the Han army, riding on the horses, hacking and stabbing with the Han soldiers, and a considerable number of Hun soldiers chose to dismount and fight on foot in order to gain flexibility.

The respective advantages of the two warring parties are also reflected. The Hun cavalry, who have long been eating meat and cheese as their staple food, are generally taller, and their arm strength is obviously stronger than that of the Han soldiers. Bronze weapons are swung wildly. As long as they can hit the Han army The body parts of the soldiers without armor protection can usually cut the soldiers of the Han army to pieces, and even directly cut off the hands and feet of the soldiers of the Han army, causing serious injuries to the soldiers of the Han army.

The advantage of the Han army is of course weapons and equipment. The iron knives that appeared nearly a hundred years in advance are both sharp and tough, and the iron spearheads are even more sharp. Enter, causing damage to the Hun cavalry.At the same time, because of the production of steel, even though the Han soldiers still wore the primitive leather armor and bronze armor, the bronze weapons used to resist the Hun cavalry were still quite easy. Hit, and usually there is no need to worry about the danger of life.

These two advantages of course greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the Han army. In fierce battles, the soldiers of the Han army only need to pay attention to prevent being hacked and stabbed by the Xiongnu soldiers on the hands, feet and face without armor protection. The iron weapons in their hands can be fully used. Chopping the enemy like chopping melons and vegetables, usually only needs to hit the target to cause damage to the Huns cavalry, and even directly take the lives of the Huns cavalry, which is quite a big advantage in close combat.

However, the bows and arrows of the Xiongnu cavalry are still extremely powerful. After the front team took the battle with the Han army, all the Xiongnu cavalry who rushed forward dismounted, stood on the ground and drew their strong bows, throwing feathers one after another at the Han army soldiers behind the battlefield. Arrows, also because of the dense formation of the soldiers of the Han army, achieved considerable results.

In this regard, Li Zuoche adopted two strategies to deal with it. The first is of course to let the soldiers of the Han army in the rear throw their bows and arrows to fight back; Enemy, use your crossbow to shoot back the barbarians of the Xiongnu!"

As a result, the battle became extremely cruel and bloody. In order to kill the enemies in front of them as soon as possible and open up space for retaliation with crossbows, all the soldiers of the Han army in the front team worked hard and bravely, desperately stabbing their spears at the enemies in front of them. , Wielding iron knives and chopping down on the Hun cavalry, the Hun cavalry were not to be outdone, they also used their strength advantage to hack, slash and stab continuously, fighting with the soldiers of the Han army until they were bloody and blood sprayed continuously.

Seeing this scene, Mao Dun, who personally commanded the ambush, did not even blink his eyelids, and immediately ordered more soldiers to come forward to fight in close quarters, covering the superior archers of his own army and firing arrows to kill the enemy one after another. However, Mao Dun was surprised. Yes, when more Hun cavalry rushed to the front of the Han army to help out, the Han army suddenly threw some mysterious objects with curling white smoke, smashed into the crowd of Hun soldiers and exploded continuously, bursting out. There was a loud noise comparable to thunder.

"What's that?" Mo Dun was stunned for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses, and hurriedly turned to Zang Tu who was beside him and asked, "King Donghulu, is this the thunder in the palm of the Central Plains people you mentioned?"

"Returning to the Khan, it's the palm thunder." Zang Tu nodded quickly, and then quickly added: "Please don't worry, Khan, this kind of palm thunder is just a scary sound, and it doesn't have much lethality, unless it just hits the body and explodes. Otherwise, basically no one can be hurt.”

Zang Tu, who had seen the original grenade, said it very easily, but when the Hun cavalrymen who had never seen the original grenade suddenly encountered this weapon, none of them were dizzy and terrified, and many Hun soldiers exclaimed and screamed. , Morale plummeted, and more Huns horses ran wildly in shock, and fled in all directions. The cavalry shot so badly that they cried and howled, and ran away with their heads in their arms. Then they shot the Hun cavalry who were not as long as the crossbow, so that they had to retreat and dodge. Therefore, the first wave of the Hun cavalry's onslaught was completely declared a failure.

Seeing such a scene, the Han army was of course full of cheers and morale boosted, but Mao Dun's face was livid, and he quickly ordered to behead all the leaders of the thousands who had taken the lead in fleeing for their lives, and then immediately reorganized the team to prepare for the second wave of attack .During this period, of course, Li Zuoche took the opportunity to direct the soldiers of the Han army to move westward. The soldiers of the Han army, composed of about 4000 people, maintained a strict formation and slowly moved westward step by step, gradually approaching the area that had been captured by the cavalry of the Han army. Successfully seized the Bantian Ridge Highland.

Of course, Modun would only let the Han army move up the mountain in formation unless it was stupid. The Han army circle with extremely poor mobility hadn't walked a hundred meters to the west, and the Huns cavalry had charged again, and once again attacked the Han army circle. Assault charge.

Facts have proved that the original grenade has a miraculous effect on the Huns' war horses. Of course, Li Zuoche is no longer polite this time. He first waited for the soldiers of the Han army to shoot the Huns cavalry with a strong crossbow, and then waited for the Huns cavalry group to rush forward. Li Zuoche decisively ordered the soldiers of the Han army to throw the grenade again, but this time the effect was equally satisfactory. As primitive grenades exploded in the crowd of the Hun cavalry, the horses of the Hun cavalry suddenly panicked again. Either people stopped, or fled in all directions, and before they got the opportunity to fight in close quarters, they were already in chaos. The Han army soldiers took the opportunity to shoot random arrows, and shot the Hun cavalry at close range. It was far easier than last time. The second large-scale charge of the Hun cavalry was repelled.

Seeing that the war horses of our own army were too passive in front of the primitive grenade, after thinking about it for a while with a dark face, Mao Dun came up with an extremely genius way to solve this problem, and shouted decisively: "Order the whole army to block the ears of all the war horses!" Stop!" (The method Lu Xiangsheng adopted in the Ming Dynasty was to deafen the ears of the artillery chariot and war horse.)
The order was conveyed, and the disciplined Huns cavalry quickly tore off the cloth strips from their bodies and stuffed them into the ears of the horses under their crotches to block their ears. After all the cavalry had blocked the ears of the war horses, Mao Dun gave the order again, attacking the Han army circle for the third time.

The effect of blocking the horse's ears is indeed a bit, and the Xiongnu cavalry who risked their lives to attack successfully once again got the opportunity to engage in close combat with the Han army. Li Zuoche kept shouting in the formation, "Stand firm! Stand firm! If you want to survive, you must not take half a step back. Only by killing the Huns and barbarians will we have a chance to escape to Bantian Ridge and stick to the high ground!"

As a result, the battle between the two armies became extremely cruel and bloody again. The soldiers of the Han army gritted their teeth and stood firm, slashing and stabbing wildly with all their strength. He smashed the soldiers of the Han army unconscious, cut off the spears of the arms of the soldiers of the Han army, and moved forward like a lunatic, trying to tear open the incision in the Han army's position.Feathered arrows in the sky are constantly coming and going like locusts, taking away the precious lives of soldiers of the two armies all the time, and the battlefield situation has completely fallen into a stalemate.

During the stalemate, more Huns cavalry appeared on the outskirts of the battlefield, and according to Maodun's command, assembled heavy troops to cut off the connection between the Han infantry and Bantian Ridge. He remained calm, while constantly encouraging the soldiers of the Han army to fight bravely, while constantly looking up at the sky, hoping that the night would come as soon as possible.

As a military genius, Modu was of course also very concerned about the passage of time. Seeing that the light in the sky was gradually weakening and the night was coming, Modu not only ordered the Hun cavalry to light the torches to prepare for the night battle, but also sent troops to the front again. Pneumatically used more than [-] troops to surround the circle of the Han army on all sides. At the same time, Maodun sent someone to send an order to King Youxian who led the army to charge the formation, and roared: "Tell King Youxian, if you can't break through before it gets dark, In the battle of barbarians in the Central Plains, Ben Khan cut off at least ten of his tribes!"

The order was conveyed, and the Xiongnu Youxian King, who did not want to be weakened, had no choice but to desperately urge the army to come forward and frantically charged the infantry circle of the Han army. However, it was useless to do so. The circle formation of the Han army was originally the most beneficial Defense, the equipment disadvantage of the Huns cavalry is very obvious, and the soldiers of the Han army have passed the panic period of being heavily surrounded, and the more they fight in the fierce battle, the more courage and confidence they have, so no matter how the Huns cavalry charge and attack, they will not be able to defeat the Han army. The army's infantry circle.

Unknowingly, the night finally came. Guessing that the time had come, Li Zuoche decisively pointed to the west, and shouted: "Beat the drum, break out to the west with all your strength, throw all the grenades out for me to open the way, kill!"

The war drums were beating violently, primitive grenades were thrown one after another, and the breakout battle of the Han army officially started. In order to survive, none of the soldiers of the Han army did not rush westward, charging forward to Bantian Ridge with red eyes. His companions followed immediately, stabbing with knives, axes and spears, hitting stones with fists and biting teeth, and charged westward desperately.

Xiang Guan, who had followed Li Zuoche for several years, finally learned some maneuvers. Seeing that the infantry of the Han army began to break through, Xiang Guan not only ordered the fire to be lit to guide the infantry to break through, but also decisively sent a thousand cavalry to charge down the mountain, waving The saber slashed towards the back of the Xiongnu army, and flanked the Hun army blocking the way back and forth to meet the infantry to break through.

Countless soldiers of the Han army died heroically and lay down forever on the road to break out of the encirclement. More Han army infantry, relying on the cover of the night and the support of the Han army cavalry, managed to escape to the high ground of Bantianling. Li Zuo Che himself shamelessly lowered his flag early and charged up the mountain under the protection of the army directly under him. He was also very lucky to rush up to the Bantianling Highland without any injuries, and once again passed on orders to Xiang Guan, whom he had been looking forward to.

After the meeting, Li Zuoche, who was out of breath, immediately ordered the soldiers of the Han army to guard the dangerous roads to prevent the Huns cavalry from attacking the mountain, and also to support his own defeated soldiers to go up the mountain to save their lives. If you don't win the four-legged truth, as long as you are a Han soldier who can still move, there is no one who does not flee to the Bantian Ridge with a huge fire on the top of the mountain, and basically no one is stupid enough to flee in other directions.

Near the middle of the night, the infantry and cavalry of the Han army who were able to escape up the mountain basically fled to the Bantianling Highlands. Although the furious Huns cavalry also tried to take the opportunity to attack the mountain, they were stubbornly retreated by the condescending Han army, and had to wait halfway through the middle of the third watch. Shi Mingjin withdrew his troops and retreated to the temporary camp to rest. Li Zuoche also wiped the sweat off his face and ordered to count the losses of the soldiers and grasp the situation of his own army.

The casualties of the Han army in this battle were much greater than Li Zuoche estimated. There were more than 4000 Han infantrymen, and only 600 fled up the mountain. Only [-] of the [-] Han cavalry who came down the mountain came back. People, a lot of baked biscuits and food in the car were also lost.As a result, after this situation was reported to Li Zuoche, Li Zuoche's face was gloomy at first, his heart ached, and then he forced a smile and said: "It's okay, a big loss also has its benefits, at least it can make the Huns feel better There is hope that we can be annihilated, and will not give up besieging us easily."

"Guangwu-jun, what should we do next?" Xiang Guan asked quickly.

"Of course it is to find a way to let the Huns stay here and let their rear army come here to die."

Li Zuoche smiled, and asked someone to fetch a silk pen, and personally wrote a letter for help to Xiang Zhuang, who was guarding Shanwu, and Nie Zheng, who was guarding Mayi, telling them that he and Xiang Guan had been surrounded for a long time Ling, ordered Xiang Zhuang and Nie Zheng to send troops to rescue him immediately, and drew a mark on each letter, and then handed it to Xiang Guan to order: "Immediately arrange two dead men to send letters to Shanwu and Mayi respectively."

"Mr. Guangwu, wait a little longer." Xiang Guan persuaded: "The Huns have just retreated, and they will definitely prevent us from sending people to break out of the siege for help. Sending people to deliver a letter now may be very difficult to succeed."

"I can't wait for both messengers to be stopped." Li Zuoche said with a startling expression, and said with a smile: "These two letters of mine are not written for Xiang Zhuang and Nie Zheng, but for that barbarian Maodun. Let him know that as long as he insists on encircling us, he will have the opportunity to encircle us and annihilate our Shanwu and Mayi defenders in the field, so that he will not give up encircling us."

Thinking that he was about to reach the main force of the Han army, Xiang Guan immediately understood Li Zuoche's meaning, but Xiang Guan was still a little worried, and hurriedly said: "But Mr. Guangwu, if our messenger really sends the letter to Mayi He Shanwu, Brother and General Nie don't understand our plan, if they really send troops to rescue us, wouldn't their rescue be in danger?"

Li Zuoche smiled, pointed to the last code he drew on the letter and said, "Did you see this mark? I have already explained to Xiang Zhuang and Nie Zheng that as long as there is an order with this mark, it must not be executed."

Xiang Guan laughed, and first expressed his admiration to Li Zuoche, and then hurriedly selected two dead men who didn't know the situation to go down the mountain, and went to Mayi and Shanwu overnight to send a letter for help. Li Zuoche, who had never rested, also sat on the ground Sitting next to the fire, he murmured, "I have done my best to do everything I can. Your Majesty, you have to hurry up, I won't be able to last long here."

(End of this chapter)