The long blade slashed down sharply, splitting an enemy soldier's iron armor apart like thunder. The blade cut from the brow bone to the jawbone without any stagnation - the enemy soldier's frightened expression froze as he was cut into two halves.
On the face, Zhang Feng's slashing momentum has not stopped yet, and with an even more swift and unparalleled slashing motion, he slashes down on the head of the war horse under the crotch of the enemy soldier.
The horse's blade was two feet long, thick, narrow and sharp, and was the most powerful for cutting. The war horse's head was immediately open and blood spattered, and he fell dead on the spot.
By killing both men and horses, Xu Huai did not want to show off his unparalleled martial arts skills and bravery, but to prevent his horses from running rampant on the battlefield after killing the enemy soldiers, interfering with the selection of the vanguard's cavalry to enter the formation and kill them.
momentum.
Generals Shi Hu, Xu Pang, Su Miao and other generals each led a dozen cavalry from Xu Huai's flank and galloped forward to kill the enemy.
Xu Huai scorned the so-called formations such as the fancy one-word long snake, the Five Tigers Driving Sheep Formation, and the Eight-door Golden Lock Formation, but this does not mean that he despises the use of formation arrays.
However, Xu Huai strictly forbade the generals to just follow the same routine when arranging their troops. More importantly, he required the generals to be more discerning, understand the topography of the battlefield, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and ourselves, and arrange troops according to local conditions and the enemy's conditions.
Set up the formation.
Xu Huai also asked the generals to keep their formations concise and simple, so that the military officers at the grassroots level could fight more proactively and bravely based on the actual battlefield situation.
The selected vanguard army that Chushan focused on built, with Fan Zongqi, Shi Hu, Wu Chihai, Wang Zhang, Wang Jun and other five as Du Yuhou's cavalry generals, with a total of five carriages of men and horses, and each carriage only had five to six hundred cavalry.
We are not yet qualified to engage in the construction of specialized light cavalry and heavy armored cavalry.
The vanguard army usually uses a mixture of light and heavy cavalry to conduct assault cavalry combat drills. The most commonly used assault combat formation is the wedge formation.
Wedge array is simply a triangle array or cone array.
Chushan's assault cavalry wedge formation deploys more flexible light cavalry on the flanks, and the weapons are mainly swords, bows, shields and spears; more heavily armored cavalry are deployed in the middle and rear, equipped with long spears, spears, large shields and other heavy weapons.
As well as pure weapons such as maces and hammers; as the front-end part that is the first to engage the enemy and is responsible for defeating and breaking the formation, it selects brave elites from the entire army to wear heavy armor and carry heavy weapons.
The triangular attack array formed by this crisscrosses the battlefield. Its mobility is much worse than that of pure light cavalry, but its attack power to break the formation is more outstanding.
The dense triangular wedge formation places extremely high discipline requirements on the generals, requires superb riding skills, and well-equipped equipment is even more indispensable.
When advancing from the south of Ruzhou City to the battlefield on the south side of Binan, the second general of the vanguard, Shi Hu, was selected to command 500 cavalry, plus Xu Huai and Wang Ju, two hundred men, as personal bodyguard cavalry, totaling more than 600 cavalry. Under the personal leadership of Xu Huai,
First, a relatively dispersed fan-shaped array was deployed in the valley on the north bank of Beishui River.
This will not only facilitate the cavalry to advance more quickly, but also prevent the formation from being too dense, which will increase the interference between the men and horses, and avoid aggravating the energy consumption of the knights in controlling the horses. At the same time, it can also form a larger area of coverage to cover the rear in the marching array.
Zuo Xiao defeated the soldiers in armor.
However, before engaging the enemy, more than 600 cavalry quickly adjusted into a dense wedge formation.
Xu Huai and Wang Ju took the lead, acting as the front-end vanguard, and were the first to charge into the enemy's formation. After that, they selected Yuhou, the capital of the vanguard army, and Shi Hu, the second general, to personally lead Xu Pang, Su Mi and other generals, each leading a small force.
The cavalry quickly charged forward from the side of the wedge-shaped formation in a small wedge-shaped formation, intensifying the attack on the enemy in front of them and speeding up the advance and cutting.
More than two thousand enemy cavalry entered the east side of the battlefield, with three times the advantage of troops and horses, like a black tide in the twilight. How could they retreat so easily just because a dozen of them were killed in the battle?
The enemy cavalry on the east side of the battlefield were almost all known by this time. The one who led hundreds of cavalry to the battlefield in the valley south of Pishan again was the Chushan Camp Troops and Horses Manager, who knew Caizhou's military affairs and was in charge of the Tianxiong Army.
Xu Huai, the Marquis of Jingsheng, who once made the soldiers and horses of the tribes in the west of Beijing and Heluo become frightened and corpses everywhere.
Xu Huai's white tiger flag flutters in the wind on the top of the big pole carried by Niu Er. The gold embroidered flag and embroidered battle flag are so dazzling in the dark twilight!
The Heluo cavalry that appeared on the south side of Pishan at this time were mainly direct lineage troops brought by Meng Ping from Shuozhou.
In many previous battles, Meng Ping's troops not only did not suffer heavy losses, but also reported frequent successes along the way.
As Cao Shixiong and Meng Ping rose through the ranks, this group of troops received special attention again and again. At this time, they had become the most elite cavalry unit in Cao Shixiong's hands. It could also be said to be the only elite cavalry unit - more than 10,000 red soldiers under the jurisdiction of the General Administration of Heluo.
Cao Shixiong did not think that he could dispatch the cavalry at will.
Cao Shixiong was appointed as the marshal of the Heluo Governor's Office. Meng Ping, as the only remaining Shuozhou general under Cao Shixiong, also assumed the responsibility of commanding 20,000 soldiers with colored eyes; Shuozhou was smaller in scale but more important to the Cao and Meng families.
The cavalry was taken over by Cao Cheng, son of Cao Shili and a rising star in Shuozhou.
Not to mention how many Shuozhou children had died at the hands of the Chushan army over the years, just because they killed their father, Cao Cheng was extremely jealous when he saw Xu Huai appearing on the Pishan battlefield.
Most of the Shuozhou cavalry generals had brothers and nephews who died at the hands of the Chushan Army, but they had not suffered any losses at the hands of Xu Huai or the Chushan Army.
This made them full of hatred and resentment and at the same time high in fighting spirit. Under Cao Cheng's order, listening to the passionate drums and horns, like waves, they rolled back from the two wings crazily towards the wedge formation of Chushan's vanguard selection, thinking
It is necessary to take advantage of the strength of the army to exterminate the elite cavalry of the Chushan Army in the valley on the north bank of the Beishui River.
…………
…………
A cold and white waning moon rose in the already dark blue sky, the snow reflected the cold light, and the dusk did not darken further.
What a perfect weather for a night fight!
Cao Shixiong stood on a simple watchtower built with bamboo and wood on the river beach - he was about four or five miles away from the battlefield on the east side at this time, and could only roughly see the cavalry on both sides engaging in battle, but when he learned that Xu Huaishen was leading the battle
When I personally visited the battlefield on the east side, killing from left to right, the veins on my forehead couldn't stop twitching, and I watched every move on the battlefield on the east side with an unusually solemn expression.
Of course Cao Shixiong knew that they were facing the Chushan Assault Cavalry, which was extremely sharp in assault operations. The most correct response was for the cavalry on the east wing to avoid the sharp edge of the Chushan Assault Cavalry and move as far as possible to the two wings.
In this case, in addition to allowing the more solid infantry array from the rear to attack and intercept Chushan's sudden cavalry, it can also cover the battlefield in a larger area and cut off the Chushan Army and Zuo Xiaosheng Army, which were originally at a disadvantage in terms of strength.
However, even someone as powerful as Cao Shixiong cannot fully grasp the changes on the battlefield.
He knew in his heart that even if Cao Cheng, who was extremely jealous because of his father's murder, had not commanded the cavalry on the eastern battlefield, if other generals had replaced him, he would not have been able to easily give up his miraculous feat of killing Xu Huai in front of the battle, right?
At this time, in addition to regrets deep in his heart, he was also impatient and anxious, but he also recognized that sometimes he was powerless.
"Although the cavalry led by Cao Cheng was three or four times that of Chushan's sudden cavalry, they had no chance of forming an overwhelming advantage before Zuo Xiao's victorious army arrived."
Although the Heluo army currently only has more than 15,000 soldiers and horses entering the river valley south of Pishan, more soldiers and horses will suffer heavy losses after the battle of Ruyang. They need to be deployed in Ziluokou, Ruyang, Guangzhou.
Chengyi and other cities were resting and reorganizing, but both Meng Ping and Cao Shixiong rushed to Pishan to supervise the battle.
Meng Ping stood beside Cao Shixiong, watching the changes on the battlefield, frowning and saying worriedly,
"And the more than a thousand elites of the Chushan Army who had previously entered the enemy camp in Pishan also came out of the camp at this time. Among them were 500 men and horses, who were also the most elite assault cavalry of the Chushan Army. Once they quickly intervene on the east side, we will
If the main force is not pressed forward at this time, Cao Cheng will definitely suffer a big loss!"
"Xu Huaidu personally led five or six hundred cavalry to charge into the battle. The five hundred cavalry and three to four hundred horse infantry led by Wang Xian and Wu Chihai had also been pulled out from the Pishan military camp, but they were able to hold on.
Xingzi, at this time, he neither entered the east battlefield to join Xu Huai, nor was he eager to enter the front battlefield to support Yang Qiye who was fighting alone, why is this?"
Cao Shixiong sighed and said,
"Is it Wang Xian and Wu Chihai who have different ambitions and watch their own commander enter the battlefield to fight, with a small number of enemies and many enemies, and are in danger and are indifferent? No, it must be Xu Huai who gave them a strict order, called
They should not act rashly. They are Xu Huai's only reserve troops south of Pishan at this time that can be used to keep an eye on us - to make them stand still, Xu Huai wants to ensure that the Ruzhou rebels and the Chushan army east of Ruzhou City
The infantry can quickly enter the battlefield!"
"Xu Huai dared to fight to the death with such a scattered and inferior army. Do we really want to show the enemy weakness?" Meng Ping said with a frown.
"The purpose of dragging Yang Lin's body with our horses was to lure Yang Qiye and the Ruzhou generals out of the city wall before the reinforcements of the Chushan army were reinforced, so as to disperse them and break up the chaos." Cao Shixiong was not Meng
Moved by Ping's words, he said, "Xu Huai showed up in Ruzhou earlier than we thought, and rushed into the battlefield before the enemy soldiers in Ruzhou. The battle situation we faced next has completely changed. At this time, we hurriedly sent all the troops to Ruzhou.
If our troops are thrown into the battlefield, they can only be dispersed by scattering and chaos. Our so-called advantage in military strength will also be lost - if chaos and melee can be won, Cao Cheng, who is blinded by hatred, is on the east side.
If there are two thousand elite cavalry on the battlefield, we should win; if we cannot win, investing more troops and horses will never increase our chances of winning..."
Meng Ping sighed in frustration. Although he was in a state of excitement, he had to admit that what Cao Shixiong said was limited. Once it falls into a chaotic battle or melee, the number of troops is no longer the decisive factor. It mainly depends on the entanglement of small-scale troops on both sides.
Capacity and resilience.
Even though Meng Ping does not think that the combat experience and resilience of Heluo's veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles are inferior to those of Chushan's army, he must admit that large-scale command and mobilization will be ineffective at night, and they will end up in the chaotic night battle battlefield.
Excessive investment in troops will not be able to bring out the advantages of troops and horses, and may even aggravate one's own chaos.
What they should do most is to light more bonfires to illuminate the battlefield, extend the front line in a solid and orderly array to the two wings of Yang Qiye's army, which has become a lone army, advance, and tightly surround Yang Qiye's army from the front battlefield.
, forcing Xu Huai and Ruzhou rebels to enter their solid array on the frontal battlefield.
On the eastern battlefield, regardless of whether Cao Cheng could listen or not, they could only keep passing orders, urging the cavalry and soldiers to break away from the enemy and retreat to the flanks to reorganize the array to avoid excessive casualties...
