When the Zhufengtang caravan set out from Beijing and Xiangzhou years ago, it was accompanied by a total of more than 400 elite cavalry guards and trainee military attachés from the samurai residence.
Starting from Taoyuan and heading south, the caravan guard did not undertake frontal combat tasks and was mainly used as a supplement to the guards of the camp. However, the main cavalry led by Wu Sanrong and Xiao Xuan only had 3,560 people. After traveling thousands of miles, there was no way to defend the perimeter.
There was no leakage. On several occasions, the harassed enemy cavalry reached the main camp, and Zhang Xiongshan and Sun Yanguan were bound to lead their troops to fight together.
Entering the transition zone between the Tubo Highlands and the Hengduan Mountains, the cavalry units under Wu Sanrong and Xiao Xun suffered heavy casualties and were at the end of their strength. The caravan escorts were more frequently tasked with raids, cover, and rear-stopping operations.
Even the caravan guards were selected from thousands of elites, especially the trainee military attachés from the samurai residence, who all had a strong foundation in skills. However, after nearly a year of such brutal marching operations, hundreds of people were lost, and more than a hundred more were lost.
Due to injuries, there were less than two hundred men left at this time who could continue to fight with an edge.
Sun Yanguan led the assembled 200 men and horses to the mouth of the gorge to stand by. He climbed up the hill and saw that the reinforcements on the south side did not pursue the two sides after killing the Fan cavalry and retreating to the two wings.
????? showed signs of defeating the enemy, and had no intention of retiring, but divided it into three parts:
One group had heavy armored cavalry in the center, one used light cavalry to cover the two wings, and one dismounted and held a shield between the heavy armored cavalry and the two wings of light cavalry. There were more than a hundred war horses, abandoned directly on the battlefield behind them.
"What are they going to do?" Sun Yanguan asked in shock.
Having practiced in the warrior's house, Sun Yanguan certainly knew that this was an assault formation with a mixture of light and heavy cavalry and infantry. The problem was that 500 men and horses formed a penetration assault formation, pointing at the simple barrier wall, and there were 5,000 troops inside.
The enemy's camp was guarded by Tibetan soldiers. How could he not be alarmed?
"I don't know who is leading the army. Damn it, you are going to trample the enemy camp directly!" Wu Sanrong shouted, "Could it be that Xu Huai is really here in person?"
Although Wu Sanrong rationally believed that Xu Huai, who was in charge of the fate of the entire Beijing, Xiangzhou and even Da Viet at this time, would not be so willful when the enemy was pressing down in the middle, this style of assault combat with the intention of drilling through thick walls was so familiar to him.
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"The general who will assist the master may be Wu Shehai, or it may be Xu Dan!"
The reinforcements were advancing towards the enemy camp. They were more than 3,000 steps away, and it was impossible to recognize their faces clearly. However, Zhang Xiongshan, as a right-hand member of the Military Intelligence Department, was quite familiar with the combat styles of the generals in the Production Department and the younger generation of generals.
, Guess said.
"Wu Sanrong, Xiao Xun, you personally lead the generals to dismount and fight on foot with shields, and be ready to break into the enemy camp at any time!" Xiao Yanhan solemnly ordered.
The enemy camp filled up a large number of obstacles on one side of the gorge mouth. Their original plan was to send cavalry to approach the enemy camp and attract some enemy soldiers to this side of the gorge mouth to contain them. However, the reinforcements had already made a move to attack the camp. Naturally, they
We must also work hard to clear obstacles and strive to get in as soon as possible and join forces to set up camp.
This is because the advance troops suffered heavy casualties, and the few capable soldiers were too tired. Otherwise, they should have tried their best to attack first now.
Now, we can only let the reinforcements take on the important task of attracting the enemy's main force.
However, Wu Sanrong, Xiao Xuan and many of their generals' morale was greatly boosted at this time; Sun Yanguan requested to lead his troops to fight out of the gorge.
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The Tibetan soldiers in the camp, the lamas and masters of the Buqu Monastery, and the Tibetan cavalry who fled to the slopes on both sides to avoid the front of the soldiers, all looked at each other in shock when they saw this scene.
Kill them towards their camp.
However, the fact that it developed step by step proved that their guess was correct.
The masters of Buqu Temple who led this gathering of soldiers and horses to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Khitan troops all thought of sending people to attack the scattered cavalry who had fled to the slopes on both sides.
The mysterious reinforcements are gathering behind the scenes, and there may be a good opportunity to attack these mysterious reinforcements from both front and rear.
However, several centurions from tribal aristocrats saw this mysterious reinforcement coming straight to the camp. They galloped around the camp and shouted, ordering the centurions to quickly lead their troops to the south gate of the camp.
Formation behind the wall prepared for battle.
The vast and sparsely populated Tubo Highlands are home to a large number of meadows, pastures, and animal husbandry are far more developed than agriculture, and there is no shortage of war horses. Dali also mainly trades horses, herbs and other supplies with the Tibetan people through the Tea Horse Road, using tea and salt cloth.
Therefore, the vast majority of the seven thousand Tibetan soldiers gathered in the flat dam of Shenyu Mountain were cavalry troops drawn from the tribes in the northern part of Duogansi by Buqu Temple.
However, the flat dam outside the mouth of the gorge seems to be open. The widest point is twelve or thirteen miles. The narrowest point is the exit position on the north and south sides. It is only more than a thousand steps wide. It is more than twenty miles long from north to south, and can accommodate seven or eight people.
There is no problem in setting up camp with a thousand people, but if more than 20,000 war horses and yaks (used as supplies, carrying grain and materials) are brought in, it will become a bit crowded.
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What's more, so many horses and yaks require hundreds of thousands of acres of meadows to graze to feed them.
It is impossible for the Tibetan soldiers to imitate the Khitan's advance men and horses and retreat into the deep gorge. They would directly slaughter a large number of livestock and dry them into dried meat or make drunken bacon and store it, doing everything possible to reduce the limited forage for the war horses.
Therefore, the seven thousand Tibetan soldiers were mainly gathered in the simple camp outside the gorge mouth, while the horses, yaks and other livestock were scattered in the surrounding plains and hills to graze.
Seeing Su Mang, Xu Pang led more than 500 cavalry and refused to listen to the dissuasion and insisted on heading north from the south. The Tibetan people urgently mobilized more than 2,000 war horses, thinking that the 2,000 cavalry would be enough to intercept and destroy the intruding merchants.
Regiment armed.
Most of the Tibetan soldiers were not with their horses at this time. When the captains saw the mysterious reinforcements that had dispersed their intercepting cavalry troops, they were heading straight towards the camp. In a hurry, they could only let more soldiers fill up the fence.
Then prepare for battle.
The Fan soldiers had no other way to prepare for the arrival of Su Miao and Xu Zang than to gather two thousand cavalry on the flanks to try to intercept them.
The south side wall is not the kind of solid wall with two layers of densely packed palisade wood inserted into the ground, filled with tamped earth in the middle, on which generals can stand for defense. It is more than ten feet high, and there are also stacked walls.
The southern fence wall is just a single-layer fence about four miles long, made of logs as thick as an arm, with a gap in the middle so big that a lamb can slip through, and less than a person tall.
The Tibetan soldiers built a stronger fence on one side of the gorge to block the entrance.
On the south side, there were a dozen or so resisting horses that were hurriedly pulled over. They were also short and small and could be crossed by a straight horse.
The Tibetan soldiers usually fought mainly on horseback with swords and bows. They were not experienced in dismounted fighting, and they lacked sharp spears and strong shields to withstand the piercing assault of the cavalry array.
In previous battles with the advance troops led by Xiao Yanhan and Zhang Xiongshan, the disadvantage of the Tibetan soldiers was not very obvious.
After all, Xiao Yanhan and Zhang Xiongshan have always tried their best to avoid large-scale head-on confrontations.
At the same time, the terrain along the middle and upper reaches of the Tongtian River is open. In most cases, the Tibetan soldiers do not need to dismount and form a formation to fight. Instead, they rely on their mobility advantage to fight on the flanks, swim around, or make large-scale outflanks.
The encirclement was enough to make Xiao Yanhan, Zhang Xiongshan and others unable to deal with it.
However, in the face of Su Fan, the light and heavy armored cavalry and infantry led by Xu Fan penetrated the array, and the disadvantage of the Fan soldiers was completely exposed.
Two hundred heavily armored cavalry were in the middle, and a hundred infantry armored men held shields to protect the front wings of the light armored cavalry, blocking the firing of Fanhu bows and crossbows. The cavalry bows with soft bow arms were at a distance of ten or twenty paces, which was very important in protecting the armor and horse armor.
Armored cavalry, shields, and infantry protected by scales pose no threat at all.
"open!"
Several strong men on the left and right, protected by heavy shields, approached the wall and slashed down with giant axes while shouting angrily.
Xu Tang drove his horse forward, and across the fence that was less than the height of the horse's head, he swept across the fence with his long spear. Two Tibetan soldiers who were holding knives stabbed through the gap in the fence were immediately bloody.
, three strokes, five divisions and two divisions knocked down a section of the fence, opening a gap for charging into the enemy camp.
The horse's pole is bladed and is more than one foot long. Xu Dan is perched high on the horse's back, stabbing and slashing from a high position. The cold light is shining, how can the Tibetan soldiers holding long knives resist it? Many of the armored cavalry on the left and right are armed with heavy-edged spears.
The attack range is also far greater than that of the Fan soldiers - the infantry who abandon their horses and follow the heavy armored cavalry into the enemy camp are mainly to protect the war horses and seal the gaps between the heavy armored cavalry to prevent the Tibetan soldiers from getting close, and together they form a solid cone
Form an array and penetrate deep into the enemy camp.
Su Fang led the Qingqi, in addition to continuously widening the gap in the southern fence wall and intercepting the Fanqi regrouping behind them, they also followed the front line deep into the enemy camp.
Move and use your bow and crossbow to shoot at the Tibetan soldiers in the distance.
The generals on light cavalry basically use scale armor or zhao armor. The main reason is that the war horses are not wearing horse armor, which is a weak point easily attacked by the Tibetan soldiers. After the war horses enter the enemy camp, they cannot increase their speed.
However, although the number of Tibetan soldiers in the camp is as high as 5,000, which is ten times the number of reinforcements coming in, sometimes an absolutely large number may not be an advantage, or even a disadvantage.
For example, now.
Being pierced by a solid array of heavy armored cavalry and infantry, the Tibetan soldiers at the front were frightened by the killing and fled in a hurry, first rushing the array on both wings of the Tibetan soldiers into chaos.
Not only were the Tibetan soldiers near the Nanzha Wall unable to effectively organize an attack to threaten the relatively weak rear flank of the reinforcements, they even scrambled to escape to the gap, blocking the hundreds of Tibetan cavalry who had regrouped on the south side. There was no way
Bite it to death.
The enemy camp was flat. Xu Pang stood high on his horse and had a panoramic view of the enemy camp with a radius of three to four miles. He followed the path straight towards the camp of the Chinese army and was invincible.
At this time, Wu Sanrong, Xiao Xuan, and Sun Yanguan also personally led the remnants of the troops who went south and fought out from the mouth of the gorge.
On the one hand, the fence wall erected by the Tibetan soldiers at the mouth of the gorge was relatively thick and filled with a large number of obstacles. On the other hand, the remaining soldiers who went south were too exhausted in all aspects.
After they approach the enemy camp, they mainly use their bows and crossbows to shoot.
After it was confirmed that the enemy camp had been completely stirred up, the enemy troops at the mouth of the gorge were panicked and unprepared. The remaining soldiers heading south directly bypassed the obstacles, climbed up and over the fence, and attacked deep into the enemy camp.
Sun Yanguan led 200 men and horses, and they had strong combat effectiveness. Regardless of their armor, they naturally took the lead and formed a front formation to charge deep. Wu Sanrong and Xiao Xun each led their troops to form formations and move forward following the flanks.
The two groups of troops were not large in size, but they were like two evil dragons, trampling into the camp of the Tibetan soldiers and causing a huge stir.
The weak interceptions organized by the Tibetan soldiers in panic were all ruthlessly crushed one by one.
Two groups of troops rushed to the enemy's camp, but no key figures were caught. They saw a mess near the Chinese camp. The so-called guru, the Tibetan prime minister, and hundreds of lamas didn't know about it.
Where had they fled earlier, they also discovered at this time that the Tibetan soldiers in the camp had completely fallen into leaderless chaos. They only regretted that their parents had lost two legs, and they desperately fled from the gap to both ends of the flat dam...
