Gan Ning came on horseback. At this time, the Huangmenting soldiers in the rear had already formed a team. Under the command of Shen Chen, some of them were hiding in Ziyun Mountain on the left, while others were forming formations on the road.
Shen Chen was also riding on horseback, watching from a mound about two or three meters high. When he heard Gan Ning's words, he said, "Cao Cao's cavalry is coming."
Gan Ning said in a deep voice: "I have asked the soldiers to immediately form a formation on the spot, but I am afraid that the enemy will just surround us without attacking."
"It must be so."
Shen Chen nodded and said: "The cavalry cannot charge forward. They must swim without attacking, delaying our retreat. When the infantry from behind arrives, this place is not far from Kunyang. We fight and retreat to cover each other." "
"good."
Gan Ning said: "I will go back to form the formation immediately. You should be careful."
"rest assured."
Shen Chen nodded, the cavalry was indeed powerful, but before the Tang and Song Dynasties, the role of cavalry was actually very limited. "Six Tao" said: "In war, one cavalry cannot serve as an infantry."
In other words, the combat effectiveness of a cavalry is not as good as that of an infantry. It was not until the Tang and Song Dynasties that the importance of cavalry came into play.
The reason is that before the Western Jin Dynasty, since the bilateral stirrups and high-bridge saddles had not yet come out, the cavalry lacked a stable and reliable point of contact on the horse, so they could not use the powerful impact long-handled weapons of later generations, such as large axes, broadswords, and horseback riding. Aphrodisiac, armor-breaking cone, etc.
For example, the reason why the strong generals at that time were able to become strong generals was that their riding skills were extremely superb. They could clamp the horse's belly relying solely on the strength of their legs, and forcibly use the strength of their legs and waist to apply force to their upper body.
Others cannot use axes, broadswords, horse swords, and armor-piercing awls to charge into battle, but they can achieve it, one man and one horse fighting in a crowd of ten thousand troops, such as Xiang Yu and Guan Yu.
Don't look at the later fierce generals who were also very fierce. For example, Li Cunxiao and Yang Zaixing were both capable of killing fierce generals with a hundred men. However, if they lacked stirrups and high-bridge saddles, they might not be able to achieve the impressive results in history.
Therefore, this is why Guan Yu has the reputation of being a king but not a hegemon, and ten thousand people can defeat him.
Therefore, the cavalry before the Western Jin Dynasty had not actually evolved into the later impact heavy cavalry that could crush an infantry formation head-on with thunderous momentum.
They are the kind of light cavalry that occasionally use halberds, spears, swords and other low-difficulty close combat weapons, and focus on using bows and arrows.
Because of this, the cavalry at that time was mainly used to perform auxiliary combat tasks such as reconnaissance, vigilance, patrolling, and sneak attacks.
For example, in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao led five thousand cavalry straight to Wuchao. After arriving at Wuchao, he actually dismounted and fought to defeat Chun Yuqiong and burned Wuchao's grain and grass.
From the Qin Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the so-called invincible Xiongnu cavalry suffered many defeats.
For example, the tactics used by Meng Tian and Li Mu to defeat the Xiongnu were infantry + chariots + crossbows. Their weakness in attacking difficult positions was fully exposed.
Even in the late period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the tens of thousands of Xiongnu cavalry were helpless when faced with a large formation of Li Ling's five thousand infantry. Their final victory was largely due to the fact that the Han army ran out of bows and arrows.
Therefore, combined with various factors, it is enough to show that the cavalry at that time was difficult to achieve lethality when facing the formation of infantry.
Their only role on the frontal battlefield is to outflank the enemy's infantry from both sides when their own infantry engages the enemy's infantry.
Examples of this type of battle were seen before the Western Jin Dynasty, including the wars between Qin, Han, and the Roman Empire. There had never been a frontal charge by cavalry.
Because of this, Shen Chen was actually not very worried when faced with the surging cavalry of Cao's army.
However, Cao's cavalry obviously did not intend to confront them head-on, but to contain them with mounted fire from the flanks, wait until the rear infantry came up, and then strangle them from the flanks.
Regarding this tactic, Shen Chen had never eaten pork, but he had seen pigs running. He had seen this kind of fighting method of the Huns when he read "Historical Records" before, so he had to respond.
"Array, array, array!"
High-pitched shouts can be heard throughout the wilderness, and the whistles of officers at all levels can be heard endlessly. The soldiers will begin to line up in order and point their spearheads to the north.
At this moment, the thunderous sound of iron hoofs roared in, as if the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking, crushing everything in front of them into powder.
Cao Cao personally led the cavalry and chased them to the Ziyun Mountain area. This is actually not a good place for the cavalry because the official road is relatively narrow. On the left side of Shen Chen's army and on the right side of Cao Jun's army are Ziyun Mountain and Funiu Mountain. Remaining pulse.
On the right side of Shen Chen's army and on the left side of Cao's army, there was a wilderness with farmland, villages, and jungles. Although there were also some grasslands, the intertwined fields still had a great impact on the rapid attack of the cavalry.
Even if the hinterland of the Central Plains is a plain area, the reclamation of farming civilization will cause certain troubles to the cavalry. This was proved later when the northern nomads went south countless times.
At this moment, Cao's cavalry came like a dark cloud.
Shen Chen was watching on a small hillside at the foot of Ziyun Mountain. From a distance, he saw first a black dot appearing on the northern horizon, then dozens, then hundreds, and finally turned into a dense row, like It occupied the entire ground and didn't stop until two miles away.
No one moved.
The two sides fell into an extremely silent confrontation. The originally noisy sound of galloping horses' hooves, high-pitched whistling, and roaring of the earth gradually subsided. Except for the occasional neighing of the war horses wagging their tails, the air became quiet.
The soldiers in the front row of Huangmen Pavilion nervously clenched their weapons. No matter how they train on weekdays, when they actually go to the battlefield and encounter a large enemy cavalry force head-on, they must feel guilty.
In this tense confrontation, Shen Chenjun was the first to break the silence. The soldiers in the first row suddenly received an order to evacuate from the left and right sides and move to the back.
The soldiers immediately breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began to run back in row, followed by the second row, the third row, and the fourth row. The front row continued to maintain a fighting posture, and then retreated backwards.
Three thousand people are not many in the first place. In later generations, when four to five thousand students from junior high school or high school held a conference, the team would be denser than them.
Just because they have to stand in separate rows, the area occupied is still quite large, about half of the playground.
There are generally only about 200 soldiers in the front row. This small-scale rapid movement not only maintains high efficiency, but also makes it difficult for the enemy cavalry to attack directly. Once they take action, soldiers in other ranks can fight.
Seeing this, Cao Cao in the distance waved his hand and said: "Fire the arrow!"
"Fire the arrow!"
The messenger shouted loudly.
Thousands of knights cheered and took off the bows and arrows hanging on the sides of their horses, then galloped towards Shen Chen's army.
Strictly speaking, mounted archery has appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such as the most famous Hufu mounted archery. However, the problem is that it lacks saddles and high-bridge stirrups, so it is impossible to shoot arrows while riding a horse.
This kind of person requires extremely high riding skills and superb skills. According to the entire official history of the Three Kingdoms, only Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Gongsun Zan, Lu Bu and a few other generals who grew up in border areas and had extremely strong equestrian skills can do this. Ordinary soldiers Not at all.
Therefore, these people basically rushed over on horseback, then arrived at a position about an arrow's throw away from Shen Chen's army, and began to draw their bows and fire arrows.
The problem is that this is no different from shooting at each other.
Li Ling's five thousand men were stationed at the foot of the mountain. Relying on crossbows and shields, they fought with 30,000 Huns cavalry. Then, under the siege of 80,000 Huns cavalry, they fought and retreated, fighting for several days and nights.
If he had been charged by heavy cavalry with stirrups and heavy armor, Li Ling would have been killed long ago.
It can be seen from this that apart from their mobility, the cavalry of the Han Dynasty had no difference in combat effectiveness from infantry. Only particularly fierce generals could control it.
Seeing that the opponent was not charging with spears and horses, but charging towards them with bows and arrows in hand, obviously intending to release arrows, there was a commotion among the Huangmenting soldiers, and the officers kept shouting before they became quiet.
Shen Chen immediately shouted: "The spearmen retreat, the sword and shield men move forward, and the crossbowmen prepare!"
The three thousand Huangmenting soldiers were armed as a small military academy group according to the standards of the Han Dynasty. People in later generations who have seen pictures of Han Dynasty soldiers' equipment should know that Han Dynasty soldiers were divided into different types, some with shields and swords, and some with shields and spears. There are those with crossbows and those on horseback with short swords.
They are sword and shield bearers, spear and shield bearers, crossbowmen, light cavalry and sword and axemen without shields.
But that was the Western Han Dynasty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, weapons and equipment became more abundant. With the mass production of Huanshou swords, the swords and shields of the Western Han Dynasty gradually withdrew from the stage of history and transformed into swords and shields. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, hook-mounted shields even appeared.
It’s just that Huangmenting soldiers did not build this kind of hook inlay. The shields at that time were not all iron. They were mostly wooden shields with iron sheets inlaid on them. They were not big in size, ranging from 0.6 to 0.8 meters in length. They were lighter and easier to carry. , when encountering arrows in a war, people can huddle behind their shields to resist the arrows.
Now Cao Cao ordered the cavalry to shoot arrows, not like the Mongolian soldiers flying kites and shooting on horseback. In fact, they would not take any advantage.
Under the command of Shen Chen, all the troops immediately began to form formations. The spearmen retreated backwards and ran toward Ziyun Mountain in the rear. The sword and shield men moved forward to cover the crossbowmen for counterattack!
He shoots arrows, and we shoot arrows at each other!
"Fire the arrow!"
Following a shout, a sharp whistle resounded throughout the sky.
"Fire the arrow!"
Both sides issued archery orders almost at the same time.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The sound of arrows tore through the void. The distance between the two sides was just an arrow's length, which was more than 140 meters. They were both shooting upwards.
In an instant, both sides were on their backs. Huangmenting's side suffered heavy losses, and Cao's army suffered even greater losses.
After all, they couldn't hold up their shields on their horses.
"withdraw!"
Cao Jun's clanging golden sound sounded.
The cavalry began to retreat one after another, leaving behind nearly a hundred horses and the corpses of soldiers, turning their horses' heads and running back.
The order to withdraw the troops was given by Cao Cao. He frowned and felt sorry for the horses on the ground.
The cavalry was so awkward against the infantry at that time, so this is why since the Qin and Han Dynasties, farming civilization has made the nomads unable to find their way to the north. When stirrups and high-bridge saddles appeared, the situation would be reversed.
Now Shen Chen formed a formation on the spot and exchanged shots with him. Although both sides had bows and arrows, because they were not in the camp or the city, the baggage troops did not keep up, so they basically only had the arrows they carried with them.
People like Li Ling, who had a large vehicle as a camp, actually brought a certain amount of luggage, so that they could hold on for a few more days. They didn't have vehicles to follow them, so they would probably be gone after a few rounds of shooting.
So firstly Cao Cao felt sorry for the horses he was so short of, secondly he didn't have many arrows, and thirdly Gan Ning had already moved his army towards this side, so he couldn't let all the five thousand cavalry swarm up and take all the arrows he carried. All the arrows were shot.
"Take the corpse of your companion and go!"
Seeing Cao's army retreating, Shen Chen immediately seized the opportunity to retreat.
At this time, Gan Ning had also lined up his troops to press forward and cover Shen Chen's troops. Soon the Huangmenting soldiers retreated south.
Xu Chu asked from beside him: "Sikong, are you just going to let them go?"
Cao Cao looked at Ziyun Mountain, shook his head and said: "The terrain here is extremely unfavorable to us. They are backed by mountains and have supporting troops beside them. Once we are entangled by them, the consequences are unpredictable."
"so what should I do now?"
Xu Chu asked.
Cao Cao pointed to the front and said: "After these mountains, there are still dozens of miles to reach Kunyang. The road is flat. We can take advantage of the cavalry and surround them from all sides. I don't believe that their turning speed can be faster than ours." quick."
It has to be said that Cao Cao's tactical command before the battle is indeed genius level.
The disadvantages of the cavalry are obvious. They cannot rush into formation, cannot shoot from horseback, and can only stand and shoot arrows. They are equivalent to a group of highly mobile archers. Even if they switch to the ring-shou sword to close up with the infantry, they may not be able to take advantage. , need to cooperate with infantry to show its strength.
But it is not completely impossible to deal with infantry on the plains. They have 5,000 cavalry against 8,000 infantry. They can try to divide their troops to surround them.
Everyone in the cavalry has a bow and arrow, but the proportion of crossbowmen among the 8,000 infantry is actually not high. For example, Li Ling's 5,000 troops actually only had more than 1,000 crossbowmen. The reason why they were able to defeat the Huns' cavalry was because they had a good location in the mountainous area. factor.
Once the cavalry encircles the infantry on the plains, even if they stand and shoot at each other, the infantry will not be able to cover everything because there are not enough archers and crossbowmen, and they have to deal with shooting from multiple directions.
By then Shen Chenjun will completely become a target.
Therefore, when Shen Chen has his back to the mountainous area, the cavalry has no effect and cannot stop them from retreating. But when they leave the Ziyun Mountain area, the situation will take a turn for the worse.
So Cao Cao ordered Cao Cao's cavalry to retreat slightly and followed them like a crane.
Seeing this situation, how could Shen Chen not know what Cao Cao was thinking?
At that moment, he came to Gan Ning and said: "Uncle Xingba, we are now at the foot of the mountain, protected by mountains and forests. Cao Cao's army can only attack from one direction. But after leaving the mountainous area, Cao Cao can let the cavalry surround us and shoot arrows. Our crossbows It is impossible for the hand to fight back in every direction, and the losses will be heavy when the time comes. After a few rounds of arrows, the team will collapse, and they will be able to pursue them."
"What should we do?"
Gan Ning frowned, this was indeed a big problem.
Shen Chen said: "There is only one way now, leave one force to contain them, and the rest of the troops will go back to Kunyang and use baggage carriages to cover the retreat of the team. You should send people back to Kunyang immediately and ask Lou Fa to prepare the carriages. Send someone to pick us up."
This method was not what Shen Chen thought of, but he read records in "Historical Records" that when Wei Qing was planning the battle of Xiangbei, the main force of the Han army encountered the main force of the Xiongnu Chanyu on the northern grassland hundreds of miles away from Dingxiang. Wei Qing That is to say, they used the baggage vehicles as cover and fired with powerful crossbows to annihilate thousands of Xiongnu, and then returned to Dingxiang to rest and recuperate.
Including Li Ling's battle at Junji Mountain, he also used heavy baggage vehicles as camp fortresses and repelled tens of thousands of Huns cavalry.
Therefore, the best way to suddenly encounter cavalry in the wild is to find a bunker to prevent the cavalry from outflanking and dividing the battlefield after shooting arrows. Now they can do this relying on Ziyun Mountain, but they cannot do it on the plains behind, so they must Return to Kunyang to pick up the baggage cart.
But Gan Ning said: "My troops are larger in number. If I go back, they will definitely choose to bypass you and not fight with me, and directly pursue me. The infantry cannot outrun the cavalry, and I will definitely lose money when you come." It's too bad, why don't I hold the line here, and you go back first, and then come and cover me after you get the baggage train."
"Well"
Shen Chen thought about it for a while, and then he nodded and said, "Okay."
With fewer people, the goals are smaller.
Cao Cao definitely wanted to encircle Shen Chen's main force. Gan Ning left 5,000 men here. Cao Cao would not let this big piece of meat go, so he would most likely let these 3,000 men leave. At most, he would split his troops with one or two thousand cavalry to pursue them. .
However, we have to prepare for the worst, that is, Cao Cao chooses to pursue him, abandons Gan Ning who is staying in the mountains, and runs to chase Shen Chen.
Therefore, Gan Ning had to block the entire road in order to stop Shen Chen.
Everyone in Xiangcheng knows that the Ziyun Mountains in the south include Lingwu Mountain, Baishi Mountain, Ziyun Mountain and other mountainous areas to the west, and Shoushan Mountain to the east, which is a small mountain range stretching for more than ten kilometers.
This means that there are mountains on the left and right sides of this mountainous area, but the problem is that they are a bit far apart in the middle, more than ten kilometers, so the two mountainous areas do not form a valley, and the cavalry can completely bypass Gan Ning's formation.
The good news is that there are too many farmland villages on both sides, which seriously hinders the cavalry pursuit. Therefore, as long as Gan Ning spreads out his formation, the enemy will have to take a long detour even if they want to pursue. Gan Ning can still retreat to follow. Go to Shenchen to provide support.
At that moment, Gan Ning and Shen Chen began to divide their troops. Shen Chen's troops passed through Gan Ning's troops one after another and arrived at the rear. Gan Ning lined up on the spot. The five thousand people were no longer divided into several rows, but were like a long snake. Open up as usual and be prepared to do so.
Cao Cao, who was in the distance, also saw this scene, but he didn't know where Shen Chen was. After all, he was so far away. He just saw that the enemy divided his troops, and two or three thousand people retreated to the rear, obviously wanting to cover his return to Kunyang. .
"When Shen Chen came here this time, he didn't bring any baggage, and he must not have a lot of bows and arrows. I think he will go back to Kunyang to mobilize rear reinforcements this time, and second, he will go back to get the baggage and vehicles. By then there will be enough arrows, so there will be no need. Afraid of us."
Cao Cao analyzed and said.
Xu Chu said: "Sikong, why don't we bypass those blocking the road and pursue and annihilate those who split up the troops?"
Cao Cao shook his head and said: "No, Ziyun Mountain stretches for dozens of miles. Even if we pursue them, they will immediately cling to the mountains like they are now. At this time, the former army returns to help, but we are in danger."
"That"
Xu Chu thought the same thing. The cavalry must leave the mountainous area to show its strength. They haven't left the mountainous area yet. If they continue to rely on the mountainous area for defense, and then the intercepting troops in front go back, won't they be outflanked?
At this time, Guan Yu said: "Sikong, if this is the case, why not divide your troops to pursue us?"
"If we divide our troops."
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and glanced at Xu Chu. Xu Chu's riding skills were average and he might not be able to serve as a cavalry general and command cavalry in battle.
This is indeed true.
Looking at Xu Chu's record throughout his life, he was relatively poor in the early stages. He teamed up with Xu Huang and was repelled by Guan Yu. He was at a disadvantage against Zhang Fei several times. It was not until his equestrian skills were superb in the later stages that he was able to fight Ma Chao.
It can be seen that, at least for now, he is no worse than Dian Wei and Zhang Fei in foot combat, but he is one level behind in mounted combat.
At least in the Battle of Guandu, the battle between the super first-class military general Xu Chu and the first-class military general Zhang He actually ended in a deadlock for fifty or sixty rounds, indicating that his cavalry fighting skills are currently at best first-class or even weak.
Seeing Cao Cao's hesitation, Guan Yu took the initiative and said: "The general is willing to share Sikong's worries!"
"Well."
Cao Cao thought about it, Xu Chu's cavalry skills were average, but Guan Yu was very strong and should be able to take on this important task.
But if Guan Yu is not around, will he take advantage of this opportunity?
Thinking of this, Cao Cao looked at Guan Yu suspiciously.
But Guan Yu looked at him very seriously.
Cao Cao suddenly woke up.
Yunchang has always been loyal and would never leave secretly, so he said: "Okay, Yunchang, you lead 1,500 people to chase."
"only!"
Guan Yu roared and took the order and left.
At that moment, he rode a red rabbit horse and led 1,500 knights to the east to catch up with Shen Chen in the direction he left. When he saw him leaving, Xu Chu said: "Sikong, will Guan Yu take advantage of this opportunity?"
Cao Cao shook his head: "It doesn't matter, Yun Chang is a loyal and righteous person, and he won't be like this."
"That's too much for the general to say."
Xu Chu stopped talking.
Cao Cao squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of Gan Ning's army in the distance.
He didn't know that Shen Chen was in the leaving army, but it didn't matter, as long as it was delayed for a few more hours, this army would be unable to leave Yingchuan!
I originally wanted to finish this chapter, which was nothing more than the interaction between Guan Yu and Shen Chen. The emperor's uncle will arrive in Runan soon, but he moved tonight and ran away overnight carrying the salute and bucket, so he couldn't finish it.
In addition, some people say not to cooperate with Liu Bei. Don't involve Liu Bei from the last book. I didn't write the last book well and it was too much. This book won't be like that.
And if you want to resist Cao Cao, you must cooperate with Liu Bei, because it is too difficult for the protagonist to stand on his own. At least Yuan Shao has to be the general of the Han Dynasty in the name of supporting the Han Dynasty, and he is under the belt edict. If you don't
Because of my righteousness, my fate will be the same as that of Yuan Shu. Unless I cheat the protagonist, I will definitely be scolded for cheating.
Therefore, it is difficult to reconcile the opinions of others. I tried to trick the protagonist into pursuing self-reliance, but readers criticized it for being untrue. Liu Biao and Liu Zhang were members of the Han Dynasty and did not dare to proclaim themselves emperor. Yuan Shu, a powerful force like Yuan Shu, immediately collapsed when he proclaimed himself emperor. Without the support of the aristocratic family and the common people, the idea of self-reliance was untrue.
How is success possible?
But I don’t cheat on the protagonist. Just like a normal person in the Three Kingdoms, he must rely on the rules of the time to act. You scold me for not being self-reliant and for embarrassing the time travellers. It’s really hard.