The sound of the trumpet became more and more urgent, getting closer and closer.
Zhu Biao came running along the galloping road with his bodyguard, and his shouts of "Catch Xiang Zhenkui, capture Xiang Zhenkui alive..." rang in the sky.
General Xiang Zhenkui was horrified. He looked at the cavalry galloping in the fields on both sides of the road, and then looked back at the pursuers who were getting closer and closer. He was extremely desperate.
"General, I will lead my men back to block the pursuers. You take off your armor, put on your military uniform, don't ride any more, just cover up and leave."
On the road ahead, there was a huge crowd, and even a horse could not run. But if it could run, Cheng Xiaofeng's Forbidden Army cavalry would be immediately besieged by pursuers on both sides, defeated and routed. Even Cheng Xiaofeng did not know where he was going.
What a miserable defeat in this battle!
The personal guards surrounding Xiang Zhenkui helped Xiang Zhenkui take off his Mingguang armor. They ignored Xiang Zhenkui's roar.
"General, please take care of yourself." The general and several guards officers immediately bowed and gave Xiang Zhenkui the last salute in their lives. They turned their horses' heads resolutely and charged towards the pursuers without hesitation.
Xiang Zhenkui couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Let's go..." Xiang Zhenkui, who was already dressed as a soldier, together with four personal guards and more than 20 elite soldiers, blended into the turbulent flow of defeated soldiers. Like a drop of water blending into a river, he disappeared in an instant.
.
More than a thousand personal guards wrapped in several times the number of defeated soldiers roared and rushed towards Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao didn't give his general any chance and pierced his throat with one shot.
The bodyguard cavalry galloped like thunder, and Xiang Zhenkui's bodyguard was like a handful of gravel thrown into the torrent, disappearing without even a small splash.
Thousands of defeated soldiers were even more demoralized. They were like a handful of snowflakes that dispersed as soon as they were poked.
"Chase, catch up and capture Xiang Zhenkui alive."
The green horse was galloping rapidly. Xiang Zhenkui had thrown all his soldiers out, so he must not be far away. The body of the war horse rose into the air and shot straight away like a cloud and mist, but Zhu Biao could no longer see Xiang Zhenkui.
figure.
Before, he had a large group of well-equipped personal guards around him, and combined with his own bright light armor, he was like a shining light bulb, but now...
Can't see it anymore!
Ansu County.
Ten thousand cavalry led by Zhu Zhong were hoarded five miles outside the south gate.
The sunset is like blood.
Ten miles away from Ansu County, more than 100,000 Tang and Han cavalry completely surrounded the defeated Zhou army from all directions. Zhu Biao ordered that prisoners be surrendered on a large scale and no killing was allowed.
The defeated Zhou army of 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers without their own structures and armors surrendered one after another with no way to escape. Together with the previous prisoners, there were a total of 112,000 defeated soldiers, all of whom were placed under the custody of Shangguan Renqing's command.
Ansu County was recaptured. The 20,000 Zhou troops guarding this place immediately wiped the soles of their feet and fled after confirming that Xiang Zhenkui's main force was defeated. Thousands of Tang army prisoners of war were among their own people in the blink of an eye.
Warm embrace.
The darkness falls quietly.
The lights in the governor's mansion in the city are brightly lit.
Zhu Biao, Shangguan Renqing, Zhu Wu, Zhu Zhong, Zhu Tong, Chen Mengren and other twenty-odd Tang and Han army generals gathered together, not to congratulate each other on the great victory, but to urgently discuss the next strategy.
Should the army go straight into Chengbo, or should it advance westward to intercept the other two partial divisions of the Zhou army?
As for reporting merits to the King of Tang and asking for rewards, I didn't understand Cheng Bo's siege. As far as Zhu Biao was concerned, he had no shame in asking for merits.
"Okay, just follow General Shangguan's wishes. The troops will be divided into two groups and immediately launch an attack on Huaicheng and Pinggao counties. First, mop up Dang Shikui's partial army to gather military strength, and finally fight him for a decisive victory under Chengbo City.
burden."
"But if this is the case, we should ask General Shangguan to report urgently to Huaicheng and Pinggao counties, and ask the two defenders to try their best to entangle the Zhou army and make sure not to let them escape."
"I wish you to rest assured, Commander. The military aircraft is important and there will be no delays."
…
Late at night, Orange.
The huge "Zhou" flag was bathed in the hazy night and flying in the sky. Xiang Zhenkui stopped at the foot of the city and stared blankly for a while. Finally, he couldn't control his emotions and burst into tears.
War is so ever-changing and cruel. When victory was within easy reach, it turned its back on him in the blink of an eye and gave him a fatal blow.
The small army of 300,000 people marching north, the number of soldiers fighting under the city of Ansu County reached tens of thousands, and the number of soldiers fighting in the north of the city reached 200,000.
It was a complete defeat. All dreams and hopes were shattered. The joy of success was turned into a pile of powder under the brutal trampling of the Han and Tang cavalry.
There were less than 20,000 defeated soldiers who fled back to Liucheng with Xiang Zhenkui. Compared with the original army of more than 200,000, this was a very small number, but with Xiang Zhenkui's only dozen or so remaining soldiers, this was
An unimaginably large amount.
Yes, there are only a dozen of Xiang Zhenkui's personal soldiers left. The more than 20 elite soldiers who followed him quickly disguised themselves and infiltrated into the defeated army. They either died or dispersed, less than half of them were missing.
Relying on his personal bodyguards and a dozen soldiers, he revealed his identity to Zhenkui and worked hard to assemble the defeated troops south of Ansu County. They called the city gate open, and Liu Cheng's guard and the leading troops
The Ansu guard who retreated here hurriedly came to greet him.
They already knew that something was wrong with Xiang Zhenkui's main force, and they were hiding in Liucheng. They were also panic-stricken. If there was any trouble, there would be a tremor.
Seeing Xiang Zhenkui and a dozen personal guards walking miserably into the county government office, everyone looked exhausted and grief-stricken. The generals and generals in the army were all shaken and their souls were flying.
The atmosphere in the meeting hall was very desolate.
After telling Zhenkui about Bai Ri's fiasco, he looked up to the sky and lamented, "It's all my fault."
Some people looked blankly at the flickering candlelight beside them and remained silent. Others asked softly: "I wonder how many people in the army can break out of the siege?"
Xiang Zhenkui shook his head and said in a hoarse voice: "There are not many left. Zhu Biao has too many cavalry. This battle was too miserable."
Everyone was heartbroken. With 200,000 infantry and cavalry troops, who could feel at ease when they lost their troops? He sighed, and then asked Xiang Zhenkui, "General, what should we do now? Should we withdraw our troops overnight, or wait a little longer?"
…
There is no news about General Cheng and General Hou yet. Should we wait until there is news before withdrawing?"
"Don't take chances." Xiang Zhenkui waved his hand sadly, "If nothing happens, Zhu Biao's army will attack the city tomorrow morning."
"Retreat immediately?" Guardsman Liu Cheng obviously couldn't accept it. More than 200,000 troops were defeated, how could they escape with 30,000 to 50,000? Xiang Zhenkui only brought back 20,000, so there were still so many that he had not kept.
?Now that I have withdrawn, all those soldiers are gone. So I immediately asked, "General, why don't you wait even one day? We still have so many brothers who are incarcerated."
"No more waiting." Xiang Zhenkui shook his head slowly, "Urgently inform all the ministries to evacuate to Chengbo and Zaojin overnight, and send emergency reports to Pinggao and Huaicheng, asking them to retreat quickly. Also, have you already reported to
The governor reported an emergency?"
"Don't dare to delay. When the young general withdrew his troops from Ansu County, he had already sent an emergency dispatch to the governor's office."
Xiang Zhenkui breathed a sigh of relief.
In the early morning, Xiang Zhenkui led his troops to withdraw from Liucheng. They took advantage of the darkness and rushed towards Zaojin.
Not long after the army withdrew, the two received surprising and painful news. Cheng Xiaofeng had escaped back with a thousand cavalry.
He was hit by two arrows and his shirt was stained with blood. If the soldiers had not fought desperately to rescue him, he would have been trampled into a meat pie by the Han and Tang cavalry.
Although less than 20% of the 10,000 Imperial Guard cavalry escaped, this is undoubtedly good news.
The definite news that Hou Sheng was captured from Cheng Xiaofeng was undoubtedly bad news. Hou Sheng's general He Qingsheng surrendered to the enemy and captured Hou Sheng with his own soldiers. More than 10,000 people followed him after the retreat.
"Where's Xin Jia?" Xiang Zhenkui asked nervously, "Did he break out of the encirclement with you?" Although the possibility is so slim.
"He is dead." Cheng Xiaofeng lowered his head sadly, "He was shot by Zhu Biao. There are defeated soldiers from his army in my team."
On December 20th, it snowed heavily for a day. The ground was frozen and jade was covered with ice. It shone brightly and dazzlingly under the sunlight the next day.
Zhu Wu led 70,000 cavalry to the back of Pinggao Zhou army.
Shangguan Renqing's troops did not move. In the battle of Ansu, the Han and Tang cavalry suffered little losses, but Shangguan Renqing suffered heavy losses.
There were more than 90,000 troops when they left the city, but only more than 50,000 remained after the war. Forty thousand people died in the battle, fled or surrendered to the Zhou army. Although thousands of prisoners in Ansu City were quickly reorganized into the army, Shangguan Renqing's men also
There are only 60,000 troops.
With more than 100,000 prisoners of war under guard, the Zhou army was unable to send troops abroad.
Zhu Biao led the Hedong cavalry and Zhu Hong's troops to fight towards Huaicheng. A small group of cavalry remained in Ansu to consult with the remaining soldiers.
A heavy snowfall delayed Zhu Biao's progress, and also hindered the Zhou army's retreat.
On the 22nd, more than 50,000 Han and Tang Dynasty elite cavalry met the retreating 100,000 Zhou army camp on the banks of the Dingchuan River.
Zhou general Liu Xingzhao gathered all his troops and faced them head-on. At the same time, the strong peasants accompanying the army dug hard on the frozen and hard ground with shovels and hoes.
The sky is gray, the north wind is roaring, yesterday's sunshine is gone forever, snowflakes are flying, and the battlefield is completely white.
Zhu Biao immediately launched an attack without hesitation. Because the two armies were encountering each other, the Zhou army's 100,000-strong army, with infantry as the main force, had not yet completely formed its ranks.
Liu Xingzhao used the crane wings in formation, but the east and west wings were one thick and the other thin. Moreover, under the wind and snow, it was difficult for the bow and crossbow to function. The true power of the crane wing formation was innately limited to three stops and one stop.
However, when Liu Xingzhao suddenly encountered the enemy, it was not easy for Liu Xingzhao to organize the 100,000-strong army on the march into the current battle formation in less than half an hour.
It was very quiet inside Zhou Jun's formation, so quiet that it was suffocating.
The battle flags of both sides danced wildly in the wind and snow, like fierce packs of wolves on the snowy fields, emitting bursts of thrilling howls.
The surging Han and Tang Jingqi were like a dragon about to soar into the sky, raising its head and roaring wildly.
"Woooooooo..." Hundreds of horns sounded at the same time, shaking the earth and the earth.
A cavalry unit of the Zhou army was also dispatched. Like an arrow from a string, it rushed out of the formation and charged towards the left flank of the Han and Tang cavalry forces.
Thousands of horses galloping, suddenly causing snowflakes all over the sky, making it a spectacular sight.
Zhu Hong sneered.
The persimmon was picked up softly, Zhou Jun thought that he was easy to bully. The weapon slashed the ground and brought up a cloud of white snow, "Fight with me..."
He bravely rushed to the front with his own soldiers, which immediately raised the morale of the entire cavalry.
Tens of thousands of people fought together, and the sound of killing was loud.
The horn sounded again, and another Zhou army cavalry rushed out of the formation and attacked Zhu Hong's left flank again.
Zhu Biao was a little surprised. Zhou Jun seemed to have targeted the left wing, as if he had to break through from this side. In fact, Zhu Hong's fight was not bad. In an almost one-on-one fight, the Tang army on the left wing had already occupied
An absolute advantage.
At least 20% of the 10,000 Zhou army's cavalry were dismounted at this moment.
Now there are 16,000 or 7,000 Zhou army cavalry fighting against Zhu Hong's 10,000 Tang cavalry. Zhu Biao still dares to conclude that victory belongs to Zhu Hong.
It's just that there will inevitably be a period of chaos on the left-wing battlefield.
The horn sounded, flags flew, and the armies on the battlefield moved rapidly. The battle situation soon changed in an astonishing way.
A general in Zhu Biao's army suddenly separated half of Zhu Biao's cavalry, turned around and rushed directly towards the left battlefield in the front line of Zhou's army. This was to block the retreat of Zhou's cavalry. Liu Xingzhao's attention was completely focused on
The infantry army was in formation. At this moment, he was commanding the soldiers to fight to the death with tens of thousands of Hedong elite cavalry, trying their best to resist the Han army's attack. He never expected that Zhu Biao would divide his troops as he said, and that his bodyguard cavalry was actually there.
He charged into the enemy formation and fought with all his strength. He turned the horse's head neatly and broke through the formation to fight away——
This is simply a myth!
The Zhou army has more cavalry than Zhu Hong's troops, but their combat power is completely incomparable. With Zhu Biao's S-level troop increase, the 10,000 Tang cavalry are already one of the most elite cavalry in the world. In addition, there are thousands of cavalry led by Xing Mao.
Many personal guards and cavalry came to help, and the Zhou army's cavalry made things worse, and the situation fell even faster towards Zhu Hong's troops.
At the same time, the Hedong cavalry became more and more courageous as they fought. They successfully tore apart the Zhou army's front line and charged in crazily. The Zhou army's cranes could not withstand it at all, and they retreated step by step on the snow covered with corpses. Fortunately, Liu Xingzhao managed to
The one in the formation is the Crane Wing Formation. There is enough space in the formation for the "Crane Head" to retreat. The two guards on the left and right of the center army are like two sharp swords. One on the left and one on the right slashed at the Hedong cavalry who came in.
Zhu Zhong raised his sword and shouted wildly, "Kill, kill, crush the enemy..."
With thousands of fine cavalry, they rushed towards the "Zuo Dao" who was slashing in an overwhelming manner. This was a battle with no suspense. As long as the two swords of the Zhou army were defeated, the Zhou army would be defeated.
Liu Xingzhao looked at the Hedong cavalry roaring in front of him like a tidal wave, looked at the huge snow mist rising into the sky, and roared loudly.
"Beat the drum, beat the drum... fight to the death, fight to the death..."
He must withstand this wave of fierce attacks by the Hedong cavalry. Only in this way can the Zhou army rely on its superiority in strength and the difference between the infantry and cavalry to neutralize the momentum of the Hedong cavalry little by little.
Liu Xingzhao did not want to defeat Zhu Biao, he only needed to gain the time for the men behind him to build a camp. If he could have discovered the shadow of Zhu Biao's cavalry two hours ago, he would have changed his direction and attacked the small town twenty miles away.
.
He didn't want to fight head-on with the cavalry on a frontal battlefield.
Zhu Tong arrived with his right-wing troops. His troops undoubtedly penetrated the Zhou army's left wing, and then attacked the flank of the Zhou army's center.
An army of tens of thousands of cavalry attacked the Zhou army from the flanks of the central battlefield in an overwhelming manner.
Xia Yunxuan and Zhou Ziang led the troops to follow Zhu Biao's personal cavalry.
Every Hedong soldier was confident that they had enough strength and enough time to break through the Zhou army's vulnerable defense line.
The two sides fell into a deadly battle, with blood and blood flying everywhere.
On the snowfields with a radius of several miles, more than 100,000 infantry and cavalry troops from both sides were entangled. Broken limbs and broken arms were thrown in the air, blood dyed the white earth red, and the sound of killing shocked the world.
"Instruct all ministries to resist, resist at all costs..."
Liu Xingzhao screamed at the top of his lungs, raised his bloody sword, galloped his horse, and roared like thunder.
The officers and soldiers of the Zhou army were indeed risking their lives and fighting bloody battles. Groups of soldiers wearing purple shirts, under the command of Liu Xingzhao, stepped forward.
A Hedong cavalry officer fell, and the Zhou army's spear penetrated his chest. Before he died, he cut off his opponent's head with a knife, hit the horse's buttocks with the shield in his hand, sat down and rushed in on the horse.
The crowd of Zhou soldiers knocked away three Zhou soldiers alive.
A Zhou military captain with the Chinese character "王" was knocked off his horse. Before he could hit the ground, three crossbow bolts penetrated his chest. The captain was still clutching a bloody head in his hand. The soldiers were extremely sad and angry, and rushed to the ground.
They went up and killed several Hedong cavalrymen, grabbed the captain's body and retreated to the rear. They wanted to save the bones of their captain, but a dense burst of crossbow bolts came, and several soldiers staggered a few steps, and one
He fell to the ground. The remaining three or five surviving soldiers, wielding their weapons, clung to the corpse of the captain, and were finally trampled by the horses.
A new group of Hedong cavalry rushed past, leaving a pool of flesh and blood on the ground.
There are no crossbows, but hand crossbows. Captures from past wars have provided countless good equipment to both the Hedong infantry and cavalry armies.
Such as the infantry's repeating crossbow and the cavalry's hand crossbow. Especially the latter, which is very powerful, small and easy to keep. Not to mention the day before yesterday, it was snowing today, it was raining heavily, so I took out the hand crossbow from the crossbow box.
Crossbows can also be used.
"Surround...Surround..."
The war horse neighed, and its strong body rose into the air. Zhu Biao held the horse's reins with one hand and waved his spear with the other. With his round eyes wide open, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Break the central army, surround it, and kill General Zhou..."
…”
Zhu Biao, Zhu Zhong, and Dou Bing each led a group of guard cavalry, galloping freely and horizontally like three sharp arrows, destroying everything.
The Zhou army's front line was crumbling, and Liu Xingzhao just pushed forward one organic Zhou army after another, desperately resisting the continued advance of the Hedong Jingqi.
This fight turned out to be even more brutal than the battle outside Ansu County. The Zhou army, which was in a desperate situation, went completely crazy, risking their lives and fighting back to the death.
Xia Yunzhuo and Zhou Ziang could only arrange their troops and horses to attack and collide with each other, surrounded by guards and cavalry. The two of them were not very good at martial arts. If they were to fight against Zhu Biao, Zhu Zhong, Zhu Tong, and Xing Mao,
Zhu Hong was charging forward like that, and if he wasn't paying attention, he might be caught in the formation.
Just like Luo Yaxiu back then! Isn’t that how he died in the Battle of Xiyang?
Zhu Zhong, who was covered in blood, was like a bloodthirsty beast. Amidst the brutal roar, the broadsword slashed through the air with a trace of red blood. Heads with ferocious faces rose into the air, and puffs of steaming blood scattered in all directions.
Sputtering.
After breaking through, the Zhou army in front of him was about to break through——
