In a great battle, lives will be like grass and blood will flow freely.
Those things that people usually regard as the most precious are all extremely cheap during the war. Only a handful of things like courage, will, and glory are left, and they support people until the end.
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The stupidity of the Goguryeo people is that their tactical arrangements are very confusing.
If you are an army from the Central Plains and encounter a large army waiting on the plains, and if you have both heavy cavalry and light cavalry, your numbers will be even more advantageous.
The generals of the Central Plains would hardly make any other choice. The heavy cavalry would go in front, followed by the light cavalry. The heavy cavalry would ensure that one's side could break through the formation, while the light cavalry would tear open the wound, causing continuous damage and pressure to the enemy.
Wait for the infantry behind to catch up, and the victory is established in one fell swoop.
This was how Li Shimin led his army to defeat Xue Rengao.
If there are too few cavalry to impel the enemy's formation, the cavalry will be placed on the wings. Their task will not be to break the enemy's formation, but to continuously harass the inconvenient infantry formation, waiting for the opponent to reveal their flaws, and then
A fatal blow.
The Goguryeo people's tactics are specious, and the results can be imagined.
When the heavy cavalry charged up, they quickly separated from the infantry formation that followed behind them, and the distance became farther and farther away.
The cavalry group on the left wing of Goguryeo was faster. They could maintain a certain degree of contact with the Goguryeo army at the beginning, but when they reached a suitable distance, they were not allowed to speed up.
They were also experienced warriors. As their horses became faster and faster, they bent down and raised their shields, ready to receive the enemy's bows and arrows.
I simply skipped the riding and shooting part and fought the Central Plains people. There was no need to expect that their bows and arrows could shoot farther than the Tang army...
But when the light cavalry picked up speed, they almost instantly threw the people behind them far away, allowing the left wing of the Goguryeo army to advance forward.
As a result, the effectiveness of the cavalry charge has actually been reduced a lot, and their number of cavalry is really not enough to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.
Back then, Li Po led his army to defeat Luo Yi's army in a battle. Although Luo Yi's Youzhou army was defeated, under such an absolute advantage, tens of thousands of Youzhou soldiers still caused a certain amount of damage to the cavalry group.
Therefore, if you want to rely on cavalry to break through an infantry group that is experienced and ready for battle, you must choose the right time.
At this time, the cavalry generals of the Tang Army had a clear understanding of this. The role of light cavalry was not to break out of the formation, but to be flexible.
It can maneuver quickly, such as cutting off the enemy's food routes, harassing heavy infantry formations, etc. There are many choices. It is actually a bad idea to rush directly to fight. Only when both sides are cavalry can they become cavalry.
The general's helpless choice.
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The Goguryeo's tactics were very poor. It may have been deceived by the Turks before, otherwise the Goguryeo's cavalry would not have been like this.
Of course, the Goguryeo people may have underestimated the enemy. This is very possible, because the thinking of the Goguryeo people has always been difficult for the Central Plains people to understand...
Just like he was kneeling on the ground before, but maybe in the next second, they can vividly and proudly say to you, for the sake of you kowtowing to me before, I will not care about you anymore, capital words are stupid.
No?
It's just that war is serious, and when you smile playfully at it, it won't be so tolerant to you.
The cavalry charged, with considerable momentum. The sound of horse hooves finally became one of the accents on the battlefield, bringing the war to a climax (harmony).
"Zhang Gong, Zhang Gong..."
In the Tang army formation, the officers shouted orders to their subordinates at the top of their lungs.
The archers drew their hard bows and waited for the people on the mountain to wave their flags several times. The officers waved their arms forcefully, "Shoot, shoot..."
The arrow rose into the sky like a dark cloud, with a terrifying roar, and then fell in a graceful arc under the influence of gravity, bringing the smile of death.
The arrows fell like raindrops on the heads of the Goguryeo cavalry, and with a pop of sound, they immediately flipped over. The knight screamed and fell off his horse. The horse whined and rolled to the ground, and by the way, the knight on his body was thrown away. Some people
Even while still in the air, he was shot by an arrow and turned into a hedgehog.
Bows and arrows are always the best weapon against cavalry.
At that time, Li Ling led 5,000 infantry into the desert to attack the Xiongnu. He was besieged by 80,000 Xiongnu. He broke out several times, marched hundreds of miles, and killed more than 10,000 Xiongnu cavalry. He was captured after running out of arrows.
This is one of the most classic battles between infantry and cavalry. Li Ling's archers are said to have shot half a million arrows in that battle.
The Huns cavalry continued to attack wildly and fought several times. Before Li Ling's arrows were exhausted, they still failed to leave thousands of infantry. This shows how powerful the archers Li Ling trained at that time were.
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The Tang army was not that aggressive, but in terms of bows and arrows, they did not outshine the former Han Dynasty.
Three waves of continuous fire, slightly adjusting the distance, and two more rounds of fire. The Goguryeo cavalry who were lucky enough to survive had already rushed to the front of the formation. By this time, nearly half of them were dead or injured.
Such a dense mass of bows and arrows made the Goguryeo cavalry feel frightened. If they were not cavalry and had already charged, some of them would have turned around and ran away.
In front of the Tang army's right-wing formation, they were greeted by rows of big men covered in armor and holding long blades.
Yes, this is the Mo Daobing newly formed by the Yulin Army.
Mo Dao soldiers are good at killing horses. This is a conclusion drawn after experiments. It is not a conclusion based on Li Po's words.
The sharp weapon Mo Dao looks like an extended version of the Huanshou Dao. The blade is long and straight, and the blade is much longer than the handle. It is sharpened on both sides. The total length is about nine feet and weighs fifteen or six kilograms. Hold it with both hands.
Those who are not strong and brave cannot wield it.
Not to mention that the Goguryeo people had never seen this kind of strange-looking military unit, it was also the first time for the Tang army to see it. That is to say, Zhao Shixun had served as a general of Qianniu. Otherwise, how could anyone else dare to put them in front of the battle to face the enemy?
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Yulin General Gongsun An is the commander of these Mo Dao soldiers.
He did not hide behind the formation, but came to the front row. When he saw the cavalry charging, he was still a little nervous, but when the enemy cavalry rushed to the front of the formation, he no longer cared so much.
He raised the heavy Mo Dao in his hand and swung it vigorously at the charging cavalry. He grasped the timing neither too early nor too late, which was quite clever. He was worthy of being a swordsman.
The enemy's ferocious face was extremely clear in his eyes, and the opponent waved the steel knife in his hand to block it, but there was no manpower to block it when a heavy weapon like the Mo Dao was swung.
With one strike, the knight on horseback was knocked off his horse. He didn't even hear the screams. He didn't know how much skin and flesh had been cut off, and how many muscles and bones were broken. Mo Dao went down with almost no pause, and fell down.
On top of the horse's head.
Bloody light burst out, and the horse's head was split open. The horse whined and rolled to the ground. Gongsun An took a light step to avoid the body of the horse that hit him with the remaining force, and then slashed down with his sword, killing the one behind him.