Xu Huai, Wang Ju, Zhu Hang, Shi Zhen and others, surrounded by more than 600 cavalry from the selected vanguard army, crossed the Yanglougou River on the ice. In their field of vision, there were several enemy scout teams southeast of Ruzhou City.
Wandering in the river valley area, but there were no large groups of enemy cavalry crossing over to intercept——
Xu Huai and the others met Wang Xian's messenger on the way and learned that the enemy troops in Heluo were about 14,000 to 5,000 strong. They were divided into several groups and were approaching Pishan Mountain quickly. The front group had already entered the south side of Pishan Mountain.
Camps are being set up in the river valley.
However, the first batch of Heluo enemy troops advancing eastward had a limited number of cavalry, with about two to three thousand men covering the flanks.
In addition, from Pishan to the west to the vicinity of Guangchengze, no traces of large groups of enemy cavalry have been found yet.
The military intelligence officer who lurked into the hinterland of Heluo to spy on the military situation had long since confirmed that the elite cavalry under the command of the General Manager of Heluo had retreated to the Yique and Daguguan camps near Wan'an Mountain to rest and recuperate after the battle at Guangchengyi.
Various signs currently indicate that Cao Shixiong has not yet mobilized the main force of the cavalry into Ruzhou again as soon as possible.
This situation is also normal.
After the Battle of Guangchengyi, Cao Shixiong first used heavy troops to cut off the communication between Ruyang and Zhiliang County and other cities in Ruzhou. Then he transferred the main force of infantry to the outskirts of Ruyang and took turns to attack Ruyang City. At that time, the Chushan Right Army
The main force was restrained by the enemy forces in the west of Beijing, and they fought hard along the Centipede River north of Xiangcheng. There was no place for the elite red cavalry in Ruzhou.
For the sake of caution, Cao Shixiong had no intention of sending large groups of cavalry to penetrate into the area east of Ruzhou before taking Ruyang. After the winter, Chushan and Ruzhou strictly fortified their walls and cleared the fields to prevent the enemy's cavalry from penetrating and infiltrating in large numbers.
In addition to leaving a small number of cavalry to cooperate with the blockade, and in the absence of other threats, the main force of the Heluo cavalry temporarily retreated to a walled city with more adequate food and grass reserves to rest and recuperate, in order to save the consumption of food and fodder and reduce the burden on logistics. It is also a reasonable arrangement.
Cao Shixiong may not have expected that Ruyang could be captured so quickly, so if he wanted to transfer the main cavalry back to Ruzhou, it would take a while.
Of course, although Cao Shixiong is the marshal of the Heluo Governor's Palace, the more than ten thousand red cavalry belonging to the Heluo Governor's Palace may not be something he can dispatch at will.
In any case, the main force of the enemy's cavalry moved slowly and did not penetrate into the area east of Ruzhou immediately. In Xu Huai's view, this was a rare and slightly comforting good news at the moment.
This means that the Chushan Army in Ye County, Wuyang, Sapium and other places can relatively smoothly enter the west of Ruzhou City for reinforcements.
Otherwise, if the Chushan Army, which is mainly infantry, is pressed forward by a large group of enemy cavalry and peeping at them, it will be difficult to approach Ruzhou City through the open valley area of the upper reaches of the Beishu River.
…………
…………
Xu Huai led his cavalry along the post road on the north bank of the Beishui River, heading towards Ruzhou City at dusk.
Not only were there no closed city gates on the Ruzhou City side, a large group of people were leaving the city at this time and were gathering in front of the river beach near the Beikui River outside the south city.
Xu Huai sent someone over to report and inquire about the situation. After a while, several horses rode towards this direction.
A general with a scarred face, his eyes full of blood and tears still remaining in the corners of his eyes, galloped up to him, dismounted like he was rolling, and shouted sadly: "Xu Hou, Mr. Zhu, want to avenge the blood of my Lord Hou!"
The scar-faced general Yang Yaozong was a younger brother of the Yang Lin clan. He was originally a general in Yanzhou. After Emperor Xiangyang came to the throne, he and Yang Zhaoting and other generals of the Yang family were transferred to the Zuo Xiaosheng Army to command the troops. He was the commander of the Zuo Xiaosheng Army.
Six generals.
Although Yang Yaozong and others had previously incorporated Caizhou into the Chushan camp's defense area, Zuo Xiaosheng's army could only defend a corner of Ruzhou and was full of opinions, but at this moment they only thought about Chushan elites being able to avenge Yang's blood.
Seeing Yang Yaozong's grief and eagerness for revenge, Xu Huai knew that Ruzhou must have known the news of Yang Lin's death at this time. He sighed in his heart and asked: "Where is Yang Qiye? You have gathered troops outside the city in large numbers. Where are you going to kill him?"
go?"
"After the dog thief dragged the body of my Marquis on horseback, the young marshal was filled with grief and anger. He has led his cavalry to Pishan to snatch the body of my Marquis." Yang Yaozong shouted with grief and hatred, "We will gather our troops and horses, now
Rush to fight the enemy to the death!"
"What?" Xu Huai couldn't believe that Yang Lin was seriously injured and died, but his body fell into the hands of the enemy and was treated like this!
Leaving Ruzhou City and going to the valley south of Pishan Mountain, the distance was only twelve or three miles away. Standing in the south of Ruzhou City, they could see a large number of enemy troops arrayed between Pishan Mountain and Beishui River.
At this time, there were two to three hundred cavalrymen eighty-nine miles away. Under the darkening sky, they were in charge formation, heading for the valley on the south side of Pishan River along the shallow and wide area on the north bank of Beikui River.
Galloping away.
Xu Huai had noticed this group of cavalry just now, but he did not expect that Yang Qiye would lead such a small number of cavalry and go straight to the enemy's formation to kill them.
"This is Cao Shixiong's trick to induce him. Send someone quickly to persuade Marshal Yang to return!" Shi Zhen said in surprise.
Zuo Xiaosheng's army has a camp on the south side of Pishan Mountain, but there are only more than a thousand troops stationed there. There are less than 5,000 generals of Zuo Xiaosheng's army in Ruzhou City. The rest are state troops with poor combat effectiveness.
The number of enemy troops arriving at the south side of Pishan and heading towards Pishan quickly amounted to more than 15,000.
Cao Shixiong's move was obviously to lure the remaining main force of Zuo Xiaosheng's army out of Ruzhou City and annihilate it before the main reinforcements of the Chushan Army arrived.
Now even if Xu Huai rushed to Ruzhou as soon as possible, including the infantry and cavalry led by Wang Xian who had already arrived at Pishan, there were only 1,400 to 500 men and horses. The difference in the size of the troops and horses between the two sides was too big.
Looking at the generals in Ruzhou, they were so angry that they couldn't control themselves. They were thinking of recapturing Yang Lin's body. Yang Qiye led only two to three hundred cavalry and charged directly towards the enemy's formation. The armored soldiers gathering out of the city were also in chaos, and the generals were very angry.
, when I saw the generals leaving the city and forming up in disarray, without any advice or admonishment, they were so impatient that they just whipped them and whipped them. Everything was in disarray. How could we fight this battle?
Shi Zhen went to Chushan to specialize in government affairs and had no actual experience in commanding troops. However, as the actual reviser of "Wu Jing Zong Yao", when it came to his familiarity with the details of marching operations, there were really few people in the world who could match him.
Get to know him.
Of course, not all the generals in Zuo Xiaoshengjun and Ruzhou Prefecture Government lost their minds.
It's just that no one can resist Yang Qiye, Yang Yaozong and other generals who are filled with grief and anger at this time. Even if they die happily on the battlefield, they will never see Yang Lin's body being humiliated.
Zhu Hang and Zhu Zhi were equally sad and heavy, but they also knew that hastily going to battle would lead to the enemy's conspiracy. They looked at Xu Huai and said: "Xu Hou, Ruzhou cannot allow any losses!"
"Change horses!"
How could Xu Huai not know Cao Shixiong's sinister heart, but at this time, how could he expect Yang Qiye and the Ruzhou generals to stay calmly in the walled city and watch the enemy soldiers tie Yang Lin's body to the back of the horse and leave it in the ice and snow?
Dragging and trampling?
Xu Huai's face was as gloomy as water, and he ignored the warnings of Shi Zhen, Zhu Hang and others.
Unfortunately, Yang Lin died in battle. If there are no other higher-level generals, Yang Qiye, as the first commander of Zuo Xiaosheng's army and the first general, will automatically take over temporarily. However, Xu Huai is in Ruzhou, and according to the regulations of the imperial court,
He is more qualified to temporarily lead Ruzhou and Zuo Xiaosheng's army until the court appoints a new general.
After all, Zuo Xiaosheng's army is the imperial imperial army, not Yang's private army.
However, Xu Huai did not order Yang Yaozong and other generals to calm down and lead his troops to withdraw into the city, nor did he send anyone to chase Yang Qiye and order him to return——.
Under the eyes-splitting gazes of Yang Yaozong and other generals, Xu Huai Nai ordered in a deep voice to choose the forward soldiers behind him to change their horses to make final preparations before the battle. At the same time, he signed a military order and sent people to the Yanglou River to order Xu
Xin and others marched quickly to Ruzhou to prepare for the night battle.
Within a short time, the cavalry led by Yang Qiye had already entered the enemy formation——
Looking at the posture of the enemy's troops and generals, in addition to using armored soldiers to resist the cavalry assault of Yang Qiye's command, and using hundreds of cavalry to attack the flanks, about two thousand cavalry directly stepped on the river ice and moved eastward, apparently to block Ruzhou City.
Reinforcements here are in order to eat up Yang Qiye's cavalry first, or severely damage the soldiers and horses that may go out to fight from the military base at the southern foot of Pishan Mountain!
Ruzhou City seemed to be only 12,34 miles away from the battlefield on the south side of Pishan Mountain, and the galloping horses could only happen in the blink of an eye. However, the 5,000 infantry of Zuo Xiaosheng's army were forced and blocked by a large group of enemy cavalry.
If you want to form a formation and advance to the south of Pishan Mountain, it will be impossible to do it without an hour or two.
If Zuo Xiaosheng's army formed a long snake-like march and advanced rapidly to the south of Pishan Mountain, and was pounced on from the flanks by a large group of enemy cavalry, and was scattered and defeated, it might be possible in the blink of an eye.
matter.
What Xu Huai can do now is to personally lead and select 500 elite vanguard troops as the front line, block, intercept and tear apart the enemy's cavalry, and do everything possible to drive the enemy's cavalry westward and kill them, forming a victory for Zuo Xiao's army.
Five thousand infantry rushed into the battlefield and cleared the passage.
Cao Shixiong, with the power of his new victory and the superiority in military strength, thought of luring the main force of Zuo Xiao's victorious army from Ruzhou City into a melee and chaos. Then let's have a melee and chaos!
Xu Huai sat back on the armored horse, frowning, staring at the battlefield on the south side of Pishan Mountain, and gave the order:
"Niu Yashan, carry the battle flag! Follow me to kill the enemy cavalry!"
Niu Er was not good at horsemanship, so he could not control his horse while getting into battle and killing the enemy at the same time.
However, no matter how sharp the blade is, it still needs the support of a tough blade.
The assault cavalry formation is like a sword. It is far from enough to only have wings that are good at fast assault combat.
Niu Er tied the battle flag on his back and raised it high. The hundreds of warriors around him were all wearing chain armor, and they were walking closely behind the forward line headed by Xu Huai and Wang Ju. They were like thick war blades.
The blade has no edge, waiting to break through the enemy's edge.
Under the gloomy dusk, the horn sounded like a whimper.
Shi Zhen, Zhu Hang, Zhu Zhi and others stood in the open space south of Ruzhou City, watching Xu Huai, Wang Ju and others, surrounded by five thousand elite forward troops led by Shi Hu, charge in a fan-shaped array along the
It rushes westward along the empty valley on the north bank of Beikui River, like a dark torrent.
A little further away, the men and horses are a little blurry, but Niu Er carries the white tiger war flag on his back and hunts in the wind, but it is so bright.
Xu Huai personally led the Chushan cavalry to clear the way. Yang Yaozong and other Ruzhou military generals, who had long been filled with hatred and wished they could not die in battle, even ordered the war drums to be beaten, urging Zuo Xiao's 5,000 soldiers to march directly into formation.
Rushing towards the battlefield on the south side of Pishan Mountain; when the generals hesitated for a moment, Yang Yaozong and others struck down the whips, spear poles and knife handles in their hands like thunder...
