Chapter 275 Competition of Wills

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Chapter 275 Competition of Wills

When Zhang Yue sent an order for the right wing to attack, the Xiongnu left wing attacked first.

The 12,000-strong army led by King Yougu Li of the Xiongnu marched out to the banks of the Nalen River.

This 12,000-strong army is a rare mounted infantry among the Huns.

They arrived on horseback, and when they arrived at the battlefield, they abandoned their horses and rallied. Since they did not need mounts after entering the battle, they could use their horse power when traveling.

They occupied the river crossing point before the Han army launched an attack on the right wing.

After occupying the crossing point, they immediately abandoned their horses and formed a defensive formation.

Geng Shu's 20,000 troops at this time were still three arrows away from the Nalen River.

Neither Geng Shu nor Zhang Yue panicked at all when faced with the Huns' actions.

Instead, smiles appeared on their faces.

The reaction of the Huns made them understand that the speculation in the previous military meeting was correct, and the Huns really planned to use the central breakthrough tactic.

Weng Guimi also saw at this time that the Huns actually focused on defense on the left and right wings.

Even they dispatched Ding Ling and Wu Chao just to confuse the Han army.

"Yunyang Hou Gaocai, the Huns really did this..."

Weng Guimi admired beside Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue smiled nonchalantly after hearing this, "Kun Mo is so complimentary. This is the work of Geng Gong..."

Weng Guimi said, "Although Duke Geng is very wise, without the Marquis of Yunyang, he would be nothing more than..."

Zhao Yi, Yuchi Jia and others also agreed upon hearing this.

…

On the right wing, Geng Shu carefully observed the arrangement of the Huns on the opposite side.

The more than 10,000 Xiongnu infantrymen had already assembled.

This is an infantry trained in imitation of the Han army. It is fully equipped with swords, halberds, bows and arrows. Although it cannot be compared with the real Han army, it is already a relatively complete combat system.

Geng Shu guessed that Li Ling and others assisted in training this infantry.

But this time Geng Shu guessed wrong. It was Li Xu who initially trained this infantry.

After Li Xu's death, Wei Lu and others continued to train the infantry.

This infantry had just arrived at Chigu City from Shan Yuting before the war.

Originally they would be the defensive force of Chigu City.

Although Li Ling was responsible for the training of the Huns' army, he trained only cavalry for field battles.

This rare Hun infantry was arranged in a defensive formation, with the extra horses and camels placed on the outermost edge. The second layer was composed of sword and shield soldiers and spearmen, and after the spearmen were two thousand archers.

The formation they arranged was quite similar to the camel city of the Jungar Khanate in later generations, except that there were no artillery of later generations in it.

Geng Shu frowned after observing the Huns for a while.

The equipment of this Xiongnu infantry was actually the same as that of the Han army in the mainland.

The armor on their bodies and the weapons in their hands are no different from those of the Han army.

…

After the Han army arrived on the north bank of the Nalen River, they immediately formed a powerful arrow formation.

However, Geng Shu did not attack at this time. He was still waiting for the trebuchet to arrive from behind.

King Yougu Li was also waiting for the arrival of the cavalry assigned to him by King Huyan.

About two-quarters of an hour later, King Huyan's 10,000 cavalry finally arrived on the battlefield.

After King Huyan carefully observed the arrangement of the Han army, he couldn't help but frown.

King Youguli saw this and asked, "What's wrong with King Huyan?"

King Huyan frowned and said, "I'm afraid the Han army is waiting for the catapult to arrive?"

King Youguli, who had always followed Shan Yuting, couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this.

"Catapult, can that thing be used in field battles?"

The trebuchet in his mind was still a traditional lever-type trebuchet.

This kind of trebuchet was widely used during the Warring States Period, but its range was only a hundred paces, and its production was complicated and required the coordination of a large number of people.

King Huyan heard this and explained, "The trebuchets prepared by the Han army in the Western Regions are different from other places... They are also called stone cannons... It is said that the range can reach 300 steps..."

When King Youguli heard this, he looked at the other side. He calculated the distance and found that the distance between his army and the Han army on the other side was only two hundred steps.

Just when he was thinking about whether to order the army to retreat, there was already a noise from the other side.

It turned out that Geng Shu had already ordered a Han army to attack and prepare to cross the Nalen River.

…

"Second and third sons, come in!"

Under Geng Shu's order, the four-qu Han infantry waded through the water and approached the Huns on the other side.

The water level of the Nalen River was very shallow and could not stop the advance of the Han infantry at all.

"Warriors prepare for battle!"

Seeing that the Han army began to cross the river, King Yougu Li also forgot about the plan of retreat.

The Han infantry that attacked were mainly sword and shield soldiers. Their purpose was actually to contain the Huns on the other side.

"Ready, shoot!"

The Huns conducted test firings first.

When the military commanders on the front line saw the Huns test firing, they shouted: "Shield protection, shield protection!"

Following the order, the Han saber and shield soldiers tilted their bodies quite standardly, and the shields in their hands naturally protected most of their vital points.

As soon as they got into position, the Huns' arrows fell from the sky.

This kind of indiscriminate attack actually has very poor armor-breaking ability. If effective protection can be carried out, the damage can be reduced to almost zero.

Sure enough, this round of arrows rained down, and the casualties of the Han army were very minimal.

King Youguli couldn't help but frowned when he saw this.

"shoot!"

Soon, under the command, the Xiongnu archers fired a second round of arrow rain. This time, because the distance was closer, more than ten Han soldiers were killed or injured.

This result was difficult for King Yougu Li to accept.

At this time, the two thousand Han troops who attacked had already approached the Huns fifty steps away.

King Huyan couldn't help but frown when he looked at the attacking Han army.

The riverbank was actually not conducive to cavalry attacks, but seeing such a situation, he couldn't help but hesitantly asked,

"King Yougu Li, do you need Xiao Wang to rush in?"

After observing for a while, King Yougu Li said, "This is not a good place for cavalry..."

Then he ordered, "The Euphorbias attack!"

Soon the Huns' halberdiers came out of the formation and attacked the Han army crossing the river.

Zhang Yue looked at the left wing in the fierce battle from a distance and said in surprise, "That's the Euphorbia soldiers."

Zhang Yue's Chinese army was already very far away from the battle site, so he couldn't see clearly.

Zhao Yi on the side also widened his eyes and said, "It looks a bit similar!"

Zhang Yue sighed when he heard this, "These moths!"

Zhao Yi on the side looked puzzled when he heard this.

Zhang Yue shook his head and said, "The Huns do not have the ability to cast large quantities of euphorbias!"

Zhao Yi suddenly understood, and then said angrily, "One day, Mr. Nai, I have to take the heads of these people and use them as footballs..."

At this time, Geng Shu saw that the front was engaged in a fierce battle, so he also ordered a group of crossbowmen to move forward.

Under the attack of the Han army's crossbowmen, the Huns' casualties suddenly increased a lot.

However, the Huns were indeed elite, and their euphorbia soldiers moved forward even more desperately under the attack of the Han army's crossbowmen.

The Han infantry was also unwilling to be outdone, and both sides were now locked in a bitter battle.

At this time, it is a competition of will between the soldiers of both sides. Whichever side has stronger will will win.

…
Chapter completed!