Chapter 86 Command on the battlefield (first update)
Compared to the Xiliang army whose morale had soared, Cao's army was restless.
But at this moment, the two sides were already at war with each other, with arrows raining from above their heads, and the two sides were already in a fierce state of war.
Under the cover of his personal guards, Cao Cao had retreated to the river bank, looking around with burning eyes.
The appearance of enemy reinforcements in the distance did not seem to affect him at all. Instead, he stood at a relatively high position on the river bank and focused on the entire battlefield.
At this time, the superb level and strong military literacy that an excellent master tactician can display finally emerged.
Now the situation on the entire battlefield is actually very clear. Although the morale of the Xiliang army has recovered, they are still unable to defeat Cao's army on the front battlefield and are being beaten back steadily.
It's just that Shen Chen and Zhang Xiu's two thousand archers on the top of the mountain continued to shoot arrows at Cao Jun. In order to deal with them, Cao Jun's sword and shield men couldn't do their best to deal with Zhang Xiu, so there was always a gap between the front and rear.
For example, the army in front had just charged at the Xiliang army and pushed them back, and was about to take advantage of the victory to pursue them. However, the Cao army behind had to deal with bows and arrows and could not make up for it.
As a result, the victory just won by the front army was quickly surrendered, and they had to retreat. Then the Xiliang army pressed forward again, and this was repeated three times.
"Sikong."
A guard beside him said: "The enemies on the mountain kept firing arrows to harass us, which made it impossible for us to eliminate Zhang Xiu."
"Brother, let me go."
Cao Chun had wiped away his tears at this time, and shouted to Cao Cao with almost a distorted face: "I will lead people up and kill them all."
Cao Cao turned his head and roared with red eyes: "Shut up."
Cao Chun was stunned, tears flowed out again, he turned his horse's head and wanted to run up the mountain alone, but Cao Cao ordered the soldiers to capture him and tie him up.
A small commotion caused by Cao Chun on the river bank was quickly calmed down. Cao Cao ignored him and continued to watch the entire battlefield.
Han Hao next to him asked: "Sikong, are you just ignoring the enemies on the mountain? Their reinforcements will come soon. If we delay them any longer, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to us."
The terrain on the left bank of the rapids is not complicated at all. On the left side opposite the bridge are hills and a few small mountains. There are villages and fields further away. Zhang Xiu lined up on the road facing the bridge to meet the enemy.
On the right side across the bridge is a plain, which can be said to be unobstructed. Therefore, although Gan Ning's reinforcements appeared in Cao Jun's field of vision, they were actually still some distance away.
The point of the stalemate between the two sides now is that Zhang Xiu formed an array on the road. Due to the cooperation of the archers on the hills to suppress them, it was difficult for Cao's army to defeat them in a short time.
Once Gan Ning's reinforcements arrive and attack from the flanks, Cao's army will be trapped on three sides and will inevitably be defeated.
But at this moment, Cao Cao did not panic at all, and continued to watch the entire battlefield calmly. At the same time, he said to Han Hao: "I'm afraid they are eager for us to attack that hillside. There are thousands of people on the mountain with bows and arrows. There are no people twice as good as them. How can we annihilate the enemy on the top of the mountain with our military strength?"
"Then let's do it now"
Han Hao hesitated. Cao Cao was right. There were more than 3,000 people on the mountain. He still occupied the commanding heights and was condescending. If he wanted to go up the mountain to attack the opponent, he would have to send at least 6,700 people.
But their troops and horses are now on the frontal battlefield, and they have sent six to seven thousand people. There are no troops on the frontal battlefield. Zhang Xiu can kill directly in front of Cao Cao.
Therefore, it is impossible to divide the troops, and it is almost difficult to control the enemies on those hills and hills.
Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "Don't worry, the number of people they can shoot at us is very limited. I am now looking for Zhang Xiu's weak point. If it can be found, Yuan Si, you will lead the troops to defeat them from the flank later. Break them first."
Zhang Xiujun, then deal with the enemy's reinforcements."
"only."
Han Hao handed over his hand.
At this moment, the situation on the battlefield is still clear.
The archers on the hills were able to cause few casualties to Cao's army.
First of all, the hilly area was far away, and the place closer to it was the frontal battlefield between Zhang Xiu and Cao Jun. In order to prevent accidental damage to friendly troops, they used upward shots from a long distance to harass Cao Jun's rear.
Secondly, the two sides did not engage in a full-scale war.
Due to the narrow road, there are mountains and forests on the left side of the bridge and plains on the right side, with many farmland and villages. Therefore, the main battlefield is still on the official road. Only the front troops of both sides are fighting. The total number of the enemy and ourselves is only one or two thousand.
Therefore, most of Cao's army and Xiliang's army were in formation on the plains in the rear and on the right. Most of the soldiers and horses were watching the battle, and there was no confrontation yet.
But Cao Cao didn't intend to retreat either.
Because once they retreat, because the bridge is relatively narrow, they will definitely not be able to pass the large group of people in a short time. Even if they can pass in an orderly manner, it will take at least half an hour.
Besides, people wouldn't just watch them cross the bridge.
There are seven or eight thousand people on this side of the bridge. If Zhang Xiu and Shen Chen join forces to attack with the whole army during the retreat, the soldiers will be panicked, which will easily cause blockage and seize the road, and the entire army will be in chaos.
Once Gan Ning arrives and cooperates with Zhang Xiu and Shen Chen's troops, Cao's army is in danger of being wiped out.
Therefore, Cao Cao knew very well that he could not retreat. Now he had to find an opportunity to defeat Zhang Xiu's army in front first. In this way, the opponent would lose part of the main force and be able to deal with it calmly whether they evacuated or continued to attack.
As an excellent battlefield commander, Cao Cao became calmer at this time. He glanced around and suddenly noticed that the formation of Zhang Xiu's left rear troops was slightly scattered.
Zhang Xiu's left rear is actually Cao Jun's right front. It is difficult for ordinary people to notice this abnormality. Only Cao Cao noticed this.
It turned out that Zhang Xiu's formation was in a spread-out state. At this time, Cao's army pressed forward, but the Xiliang army was defeated and retreated one after another. The retreat of the front team drove the troops from the rear who were originally planning to charge forward to retreat as well. As a result, the troops further behind
Being shaken by the team in front, the formation is naturally unstable.
Seeing this scene, Cao Cao seized the fleeting opportunity and said to Han Hao: "Yuan Si, their rear formation on the right is unstable. You immediately lead two thousand people and break through from the right flank."
"only!"
Han Hao immediately went to carry out this order.
At this moment, Shen Chen, who was standing on the top of the mountain, also noticed the movements behind Cao Jun.
He saw a general riding out of the formation behind Cao Jun and came to the right side of Cao Jun. Their left side was in the direction of the original plain.
The man was followed by about one or two thousand soldiers, who circled to the plain and began to attack Zhang Xiu's left flank.
This tactic of sending people to attack from the enemy's left and right wings has appeared countless times in the history of wars between the East and the West for thousands of years, from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, to the ancient Roman Empire, to the Napoleonic era, World War I and World War II, and countless others.
Even if Shen Chen has never eaten pork, he has seen pigs running.
Even if it doesn't work, it's time to learn how to draw a sword.
For example, when Li Yunlong defeated Chang Naichao's Jiuqi Division, he used roundabout tactics.
Li Yunlong sent people to attack the Seventh Division from the flank. Before Chang Naichao's artillery formation could be deployed, he went directly to the headquarters and captured the people.
So after seeing this scene, Shen Chen immediately understood that Cao Cao was planning to send people to attack Zhang Xiu's army from the flank.
The battlefield is not a rigid situation where everyone just charges together as a group, but is divided into many regiments and formations, and there are even a large number of troops on the periphery.
In a large-scale war, the two sides definitely do not camp at each other and just watch each other from a few hundred meters apart.
Instead, you need to flexibly use various tactics to find the enemy's weaknesses and attack them.
It's just that this battle was a small-scale war, a team battle between ten and twenty thousand people, so everyone gathered together, and it seemed that the battlefield would be more dense.
But this also happens to test the command ability and emergency reaction ability of the generals on both sides.
The first time Shen Chen conducted battlefield command was during the battle with Le Jin. At that time, he was already at an absolute advantage and used tactics to defeat Le Jin in an instant.
At this moment, his opponent is Cao Cao, an excellent tactician.
If he is an excellent general and fights against Cao Cao at this moment, he will immediately deploy a large number of tactics to compete with Cao Cao on the battlefield.
But Shen Chen didn't have much experience in battlefield command. Although he had a flexible mind, he was still far behind in actual application.
No one is born with a battlefield genius. His first reaction is not to counterattack and use Cao Cao's attack to make other arrangements, but to find ways to block the hole.
"General Zhang, be careful of Cao's army attacking the left wing."
Shen Chen picked up the loudspeaker and shouted.
Zhang Xiu at the foot of the mountain heard this and quickly looked around. From a distance, he saw Han Hao leading his men and horses towards his left wing, and immediately made arrangements.
As a result, although the Xiliang army under his command was brave and good at fighting Liu Biao, in terms of military quality, it was still much worse than Cao's army.
After a period of commotion, the original troop formation became even more scattered, and two thousand men were hurriedly drawn out to prepare for resistance.
When Shen Chen on the mountain saw this situation, he immediately realized that the Xiliang Army's execution ability was relatively average. The so-called execution ability meant making adjustments quickly.
For example, if the enemy attacks your flank, you need to mobilize your manpower to defend in a short period of time.
The speed of time determines victory or defeat on the battlefield. If the enemy can reach your side and rear within five minutes, you must adjust and end it within four minutes.
On the other hand, if it took you six minutes.
So sorry, before you could adjust your formation, the enemy had already disrupted your formation from the flanks, thus defeating your army.
When Shen Chen realized that Zhang Xiu could not make adjustments in a short period of time, he immediately said to Deng Zhao beside him: "No, uncle, you immediately take a thousand of our people down the mountain and go around to the left rear of General Zhang. Help him defend."
"Can you make it in time?"
Deng Zhao was a little worried. Their position was directly to the right of Zhang Xiu, and the formation on his left was nearly a mile away. Is it too late?
Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "If you can't rush over, you have to go. At least help him stabilize the rear formation."
"I see."
Deng Zhao immediately blew a whistle. Whistle was a communication tool commonly used by small groups in ancient times. Although it was not as far as the sound of horns and gongs and drums, it was more concealed and had a sharp sound, making it very suitable for use by teams of hundreds or thousands of people.
Soon after the order was issued, the messengers in the surrounding Huangmen Pavilion blew whistles to order the gathering, and more than a thousand archers who were shooting arrows immediately rushed towards Deng Zhao's direction.
There were 1,500 people in total. Deng Zhao asked Shen Zhen to lead 500 people to protect Shen Chen, while he led 1,000 people down the mountain and began to quickly move towards Zhang Xiu's left rear wing.