The Huilong River has nine bends and eighteen bays, meandering through the land of Huaibei. The villages along the river bank are in ruins, and there are houses everywhere that have collapsed due to fire.
Most of the villagers have left their homes and fled, leaving only a few old people who are dying. They don't want to die in a foreign land at this age, wandering in the dilapidated village with numb eyes, rummaging through the ruins for useful things.
.
The reeds on the river beach were already withered and yellow, and the thick fog had just dispersed. Clouds of mist were rolling on the river. A gust of wind blew by, and the reed flowers were flying in the morning mist, as if the first snow had fallen.
Ten Xuanwei Army scouts stopped their horses in front of the river embankment. This is a shallow beach. Ten scouts were preparing to wade across the Huilong River from here and go around to the left bank to reconnoiter the enemy's situation.
One man got off his horse, took off his leather bag from the saddle, walked down to the river beach, and pulled out a clump of reeds to collect the clear river water.
Except for the sound of gurgling water and the low barking of the yellow dog that had escaped countless murders, the surroundings were eerily silent.
The scout climbed up the river embankment with a skin bag filled with water. He suddenly realized something was wrong and turned to look at the reeds.
After winter, migratory birds have all flown south, but the reeds beside the river beach should be the habitat of house sparrows. How could it be possible to go there without any movement at all?
"There is a situation. There is an ambush on the other side of the river!" the scout said to his companions.
The mist has not completely dissipated. The mist above the river has dissipated more slowly. You can only vaguely see a patch of miscellaneous trees on the other side. The river beach is also covered with reeds. Among them is a wading path stepped by the cavalry scouts from both sides.
road.
Ten scouts immediately pulled the reins and drove the horses to the wading path. When they reached the middle of the Huilong River, the water did not touch the horses' belly. At this time, the situation on the other side became clearer, but they saw shadows in the forest.
Title a battle horse!
There were not only ambushes on the left bank of the Huilong River, but also an astonishing number of cavalry!
A chill ran down the scout leader's back, as if a cat's tail was set on fire and his scalp was about to explode.
Just yesterday, they were convinced that the only enemy troops near Jiaopi were Zhong Changqing's troops who had crossed the Ying River from Taihe to the south for more than ten days.
As a subordinate of the surrendered general Yue Hailou, Zhong Changqing commanded 15,000 men and horses, and only had less than 1,000 cavalry under his command. He was stationed near Tianjiawan in the lower reaches of the Huilong River, twenty miles away from here.
Where did so many cavalry come from?
A dozen scouts were about to move forward to see more clearly, but their whereabouts had long been discovered by the troops on the other side.
In the woods on the left bank of the Huilong River, deep in the wilderness, the cavalry had been silent all morning under the cover of thick fog. At this time, it was as if the lake was broken by a stone. It made a thin sound, and soon there were more than a hundred cavalry galloping out on each side.
, rushed down the river beach, waded directly to the right bank.
The two cavalry teams stretched out, like two giant black pythons, passing through the reeds on the riverbank and burrowing into the Huilong River.
"Walk!"
The scout leader screamed in horror, grabbed the reins, drove the horse under his crotch, turned around in the slowly flowing river, and waded to where it came from.
The war horses seemed to sense the danger of being surrounded, and neighed and raised their hooves, causing surging splashes of water.
Mo Lihu sat upright on the saddle with his back straight, staring at the dozens of Southern Dynasty scouts galloping toward the other side as if looking at prey. He frowned and said dissatisfiedly: "I couldn't lure the Chushan army from the inside.
It's really a waste to test Yan's blade against stray troops like Xuanwei Army!"
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Jiaopi Town is located on the east-west post road from Wangshanjin to Ruyin.
Huilong River merges into Fenquan River in the north of Jiaopi Town, and merges into Yingshui River in Ruyin County.
Twenty or thirty miles from the mouth of Huilong River to Yingshui, the terrain is low, and the river water often backwashes (hence the name Huilong River), forming large swamps and silt ponds, which also blocks the passage north of Jiaopi Town.
After November, Zhong Changqing led his troops to build a large camp between Jiaopi Town and Yingshui River, and planned to build a pontoon bridge over Yingshui River to attack Ruyin City on the left bank of Yingshui River.
The various units of the surrendered army established communication and intercepted the warships of the Shouchun navy up the Yingshui River into the area north of Ruyin and Jiaopi.
In order to prevent the Red Husband cavalry from entering the right bank of Yingshui River and cut off the communication between Huaichuan and Jiaopi, Lucheng and Chaiji, it was also possible to take advantage of the fact that the Red Husbandry cavalry only had fifteen thousand combat troops on the right bank of Yingshui River and their combat power was not very strong.
With their troops and horses attached, Liu Xian and Fu Qian decided to take the initiative and dispatched reinforcements from Huaichuan on the 20th to assemble the garrison troops of Jiaopi, Lucheng and Chaiji villages. A total of 20,000 troops and horses were arrayed east of Jiaopi, with the intention of
Zhong Changqing's troops drove down Yingshui.
They even expected that as long as they could successfully inflict heavy losses on Zhong Changqing's troops, it would greatly change the urgent war situation in the lower reaches of Yingshui River.
The mist is still rolling between the sky and the earth, and the sun is as thin as a pale paper cut, emerging from the mist without a trace of heat.
The terrain east of Jiaopi is flat and open, which is very suitable for the Vietnamese imperial army to fight according to the formation plan.
Liu Xian and Fu Qian, who were in charge of the Xuanwei Army, were also very familiar with the formation diagrams. When the fog was about to lift, 20,000 troops were divided into five formations: forward, rear, center, left wing, and right wing. They entered the battlefield and deployed.
The army consists of 10,000 infantry, the forward consists of 3,000 infantry and chariots, and the other three formations are mainly composed of infantry and cavalry, with a magnificent momentum.
At that time, the heavy fog was about to dissipate, and only mist drifted over the ditches, canals and fields. The battlefield was displayed in front of everyone. Liu Xian, the governor of Jinghu North Road, did not stay in Jiaopi Village, but stood with Fu Qian, the governor of the capital.
From the top of the high car, you can see the whole army.
The five-army formation was laid out. It was a magnificent array with a depth of more than four miles. At this time, it was slowly advancing like a delicate instrument.
The Puppet Chu Army's Zhong Changqing's troops have also come out of their simple camps and formed an array on the right bank of the Ying River. However, the Puppet Chu Army's array is not that complicated and is mainly divided into three echelons from west to east.
As the war drums beat, Zhong Changqing's front army took the lead in launching an offensive. Groups of troops rushed directly towards the Xuanwei Army's forward array and the gap between the forward and the left and right wings.
"Zhong Changqing is a bandit in Tongbai Mountain. I don't know what the Red Husbands like about him. How can he become a general with such an impetuous attack without any rules?" Fu Qian couldn't bear to watch the puppet Chu army rush over impatiently.
He became sarcastic, and ordered the captain next to him to pass the five-color flag to the forward, and the left and right wings stopped moving forward to resist the offensive of the puppet Chu army. He put the archers and crossbowmen in the front of the array and shot as many enemy soldiers as possible.
.
Several fast horses galloped over from behind, shouting with their mouths open.
Liu Xian, Fu Qian and others were in the central formation and were far away from each other, so they could not hear clearly. Soon they saw the Xinqi in the rear formation and guided these cavalry to the central formation.
The leather armor worn by the scout leader was pierced by several sharp arrows. He broke the arrow shaft in a hurry, but the arrow cluster was still stuck in his body. He beat the horse and ran wildly all the way. The blood stained the armor and robe red. He dismounted and knelt down before his father.
Before the troops lined up, they shouted hoarsely: "Liu Jinglue, General Fu! There is a large group of enemy cavalry waiting for you at Huanglong Beach twenty miles away!"
"Why are you panicking?" Fu Qian shouted sharply and asked with a frown, "How many enemy cavalry are waiting in the direction of Huanglongtan?"
"When encountering the enemy, we rushed back in a hurry. More than half of our team was lost, and we were unable to observe the enemy's situation carefully. However, the river covered by the cavalry was three to four miles wide, and it would not be less than 3,000 riders!" the scout leader held on to report.
Fu
I looked towards the west with some doubts, but the fog had not completely dissipated. The situation three or four miles away was blurred and I couldn't see clearly, and I couldn't see a large group of cavalry appearing from behind.
Liu Xian, however, did not panic too much. He frowned and asked in confusion: "Where did this large group of enemy cavalry come from? Could it be that Yue Hailou divided his troops from Shangcai and crossed back to the left bank of Ru River, hoping to outflank our troops?"
The way out? However, there is nothing to panic about. We have set up a large Pingrong formation here, taking into account the front, rear, left and right. We have also built a large number of chariots in the past six months. We don’t have to worry about the three to five thousand cavalry joining the battlefield to shake our army’s position...
"
Fu Qian asked the captain next to him to change the five-color command flag, and ordered the formations to shrink to the inside. The formations entered the defensive formation from the inside out. He also divided the central army into a team of 1,000 people, surrounded the side armies, and filled in the main formation behind the palace and the
The gap between the left and right wings was used to cope with the impact of enemy cavalry on the flanks and rear.
Soon, a large group of cavalry appeared in everyone's field of vision. There was no neat formation, and they were all over the sky. It was like the flood that broke the dam was not restrained by the dam, and it ran unscrupulously across the vast wilderness, spreading, shocking people's hearts.
When groups of cavalry came directly from behind and from the left and right wings without stopping, Fu Qian and Liu Xian couldn't help being shocked when they saw the faces of these cavalry: Red Husband Cavalry?!
Twenty thousand elite cavalry from the Red Husbands entered the territory of Yingzhou, but they were all on the left bank of the Ying River with 30,000 Yan Ji surrender troops and stopped in front of Ruyin City. When did another five thousand cavalry come around to the right bank?
Five thousand red cavalry and two thousand-man teams stayed in the wilderness five or six miles away. The remaining three thousand-man teams advanced directly from three directions. They approached the Xuanwei army and fired with their long bows.
Waves of sharp arrows covered the Xuanwei army's formation.
The generals of the Xuanwei Army practiced skillfully according to the formation diagram. At this time, they set up an array for defense in a flat area.
Behind the side chariots, swordsmen and shields stood with shields in hand, and spears and spears were placed in the gaps to prevent the enemy cavalry from approaching; the crossbowmen frequently used crossbows to fight back from the gaps between the shields and the chariots, and only needed to be carefully covered
There won't be too many casualties to the body.
Zhong Changqing did not intend to sit back and enjoy his success. At this time, the offensive really developed from the east. Groups of armored soldiers approached with their shields held high, colliding with the forward array of Xuanwei Army, and launched fierce attacks again and again, trying to directly shake Xuanwei Army.
The position of the mighty army.
The forward formation was tight. Fu Qian thought that the prisoners did not dare to directly attack the heavily guarded rear palace, so he formed a large formation on the left and right wings. He personally led his guards to the forward formation to sit in place to prevent the formation from being shaken by the fierce bandit Zhong Changqing, and resisted tenaciously.
Several waves of fierce attacks.
Not realizing that it was already noon, the Red Husband Cavalry put on armored heavy cavalry from three directions, took the lead in the assault, and began to attack directly at the Xuanwei Army's positions.
Liu Xian, who had always stayed behind to supervise the battle, finally saw that the combat effectiveness of the red cavalry was beyond the reach of Xuanwei's army.
If the Xuanwei Army holds its position, the Red Husband Cavalry will not entangle, but will quickly disperse to the flanks, allowing the rear cavalry to attack in turn, as if a shovel hammers one after another, hammering hard into the Xuanwei Army's position.
superior.
The Xuanwei Army's right-wing formation soon became loose, and a hundred-man cavalry team from Chihu continued to attack without hesitation, tearing open gaps regardless of casualties, so that subsequent armored cavalry could continuously enter the formation.
However, the red cavalry's penetration offensive in other directions did not slow down, and even used extremely intensive attacks to make Xuanwei's army breathless.
The formations at the wings and rear collapsed one after another, causing the defeated troops to flee towards the direction of the central army's formation, disrupting the central army's formation together...
