Although the Wei River can be considered a very important river in the north, as the first tributary of the Yellow River that nourishes the Guanzhong Plain, its status is actually not much worse than the main stream Yellow River. However, in terms of actual width and depth, there are too many rivers in the south that can
Defeat her easily.
Now that we have entered the dry season, the river channels are naturally narrower and the water level is low and shallow.
But this narrow river presents completely different scenes on both sides.
One side is hell, and the other side, although it cannot be said to be heaven, is definitely extremely beautiful compared to the other side.
The two armies faced each other across the river.
One troop was composed entirely of cavalry, covered in dark brown blood, which was a sign that a battle had just ended.
The other side is composed of infantry - a mixed infantry regiment including pikemen and crossbowmen. They are all dressed in black clothes and black armor, with expressionless faces, like a pile of living clay sculptures, with fighting intent and killing intent.
It makes people have the illusion that they are not facing an army, but a copper wall and an iron wall, and the copper wall and iron wall are also covered with spikes like thorns, which are extremely lethal.
It's just that this momentum has no effect on the cavalry across the river, because everyone can see that behind the infantry regiment is a battlefield that has not been completely cleaned. The battlefield is littered with the corpses of the dead and lonely wandering soldiers.
War horses - there were no living corpses among them. Although time was tight, Zhang Liao still squeezed out some time to simply clean up the battlefield.
Of course, since it is simple, it is impossible to be too careful, and it is impossible to loot all the loot.
"General, it seems like they are thinking about something. It has been so long and they haven't even started to wade across the river yet."
"Well, it is indeed a bit strange. Although attacking halfway across the border is not very beneficial to the enemy, the enemy's troops are far stronger than ours. The crossbowmen are also very strong and can provide sufficient support from the rear...
Then why didn’t the other party cross the river?”
The two sides have been facing each other across the Wei River for quite some time. After the previous battle, Zhang Liao actually had a preliminary and general understanding of the enemy's combat effectiveness and fighting style. It can be regarded as basically completing the predetermined goal.
It can be said that if it were not for the purpose of supporting Hua Xiong's troops, Zhang Liao would have thought of withdrawing to Zheng County.
By the way, Zhang Liao is not the kind of general who only knows how to attack fiercely but does not know when to retreat or even retreat. After all, if Zhang Wenyuan was just a reckless man, he would have died in the grasslands when he was young.
In the hands of those barbarians, instead of becoming the "hungry wolves" that frighten both northern Yanmen and the northern grasslands.
However, when he noticed that the enemy army was also advancing but not advancing, and retreating but not retreating, his instinct as a general told him that there must be a problem, perhaps a big one.
After all, there are only two possible reasons for the enemy troops to stay here and bask in the sun - waiting for orders from superiors or not daring to cross the river due to some concerns, or waiting for reinforcements. With the enemy's combat effectiveness, such a number is enough to overwhelm the enemy.
The military has greater confidence
In a battle with Zhang Liao's troops, even though infantry is naturally inferior to cavalry and cannot achieve a great victory such as total annihilation in such open terrain, Zhang Liao's troops can be defeated and their light cavalry troops can be saved from being defeated by Zhang Liao's troops.
His face is still enough.
Even if Hua Xiong's troops are added to the mix, this tough-to-gnaw force still has more than a 50% chance of winning - this somewhat increases the enemy's ambition and undermines his own prestige, but from what Li Meng mentioned, the opponent actually
They will also adopt strategies. Even if it is a simple strategy, it at least proves the fact that the enemy really does not have many shortcomings. In this kind of head-on confrontation, when the enemy coach has no brains, the hard power is enough
A stronger enemy force does have an advantage.
What's more, in just half a day, Zhang Liao's troops had lost nearly a thousand cavalry, nearly one-third of their number. Of course, nearly half of them were the result of the initial siege of Li Meng's partial division, but the cavalry duel that ended before
Just as tragic.
Even though Zhang Liao's troops only suffered losses of more than 500 cavalry in that battle, almost all of the remaining soldiers were injured, and they had experienced a lot of physical exertion. Compared with their opponents, they were undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
And this is based on the fact that the enemy is just an ordinary unit with good physical strength. If we look at it as inhumans, Zhang Liao really doesn’t know what the upper limit of the enemy’s physical strength is. What if it is a group of inhumans with unlimited physical strength?
The disadvantages will be even greater.
Thinking of the battle that just ended, Zhang Liao had to give him two thumbs up for his fighting will and fighting spirit, even though he knew the opponent was an inhuman existence.
Even though Zhang Liao found a weakness that the enemy could take advantage of, even though the soldiers who were originally riding on their war horses were constantly being knocked off their horses, those soldiers did not panic because of this. The light cavalry who were still not knocked off their horses still picked them up.
The crossbow machine in hand, look
There was no emotion at all, as if the soldiers who were knocked off their horses were not their robes. They shot crossbows one after another steadily and quickly, and because they were almost at a very short distance, no matter in terms of hit rate or
The damage is far greater than that of long-distance shooting.
It feels a bit like using tanks to fight bayonets, which a certain fighting race likes to do most in war.
Of course, this is not the most incredible thing about Zhang Liao and the soldiers of the Bingzhou Army. In fact, even the enemy light cavalry who do not seem to know how to fight in close combat can still shoot arrows without changing their expressions even if they are equipped with swords and guns.
Everyone admired them, but the soldiers of the Bingzhou Army felt that they could do the same thing if they were jealous.
But if they are knocked off their horses, their first choice is definitely to shake their heads to wake themselves up, and at the same time pay attention to their surroundings to prevent themselves from being chopped into pulp by the horseshoes who don’t know where they come from. Or they may
First of all, roll a few times to a place where there is no vibration, trying to stay away from the horse's hooves that are more terrifying than the sword.
Anyway, he would not be like those absolutely inhuman enemy soldiers who would hold on to the crossbow even if they fell off their horses and take the opportunity to shoot at the soldiers of the Bingzhou Army. They had a cruel attitude of "even if I die, I will definitely take your back."
At the beginning of the battle, there were not many such situations. Perhaps the light cavalry did not expect that they would encounter an army that could use melee weapons on horseback. In fact, if it were not for the popularization of bilateral stirrups, Li Shushi's cavalry troops would not be able to fight.
More than two-thirds of them may not perform as well as these enemy light cavalry who can gallop freely without relying on stirrups.
Of course, what the world lacks most is the "if" that can be realized.
Therefore, the enemy's soldiers did not struggle with questions such as "why they could do it", but quickly adapted to such an unfavorable situation. After that, the actions of those soldiers became more and more crazy. Some even gave up their weapons and gave up.
With the war horse on his crotch, he jumped up to protect the soldiers of Bingzhou Army, intending to kill this guy completely.
If every enemy soldier has such a crazy will to fight, Zhang Liao doesn't think there is any possibility for his side to win.
Unless one's own side has a numerical advantage several times that of the opponent's, it is possible to make up for this gap in fighting will.
But now, the other party hesitated in front of a shallow river. This can't help but make people feel quite curious.
What are those guys on the other side of the river thinking?
If you just stand there basking in the sun, they really look like a group of neatly arranged soldier figurines.
Finally, the enemy on the opposite side did not make Zhang Liao wait for too long. The figure who looked like a messenger who was flying from a distance quickly entered the enemy's center, and then left quickly. Then, that troop
Then he was "resurrected" from death again.
"Are you waiting for orders from above? No, it shouldn't be that simple."
Although the light cavalry, which looked like messengers, solved some of Zhang Liao's doubts. However, looking at the cautious appearance of the opponent's soldiers when they were about to wade into the water, which was completely inconsistent with the crazy fighting posture before, he still felt that the mystery was not completely solved.
.
However, the other party has finally taken action, and even if there is any mystery, it will be revealed soon.
The other party's actions were really extremely cautious.
In order to prevent the Bingzhou Army from harassing the troops crossing the river, the enemy's crossbowmen poured their ammunition towards the other side of the river as if they were free of charge. Round after round of crossbow firing turned the other side of the river beach into a "forest of arrows"
"" world, and although the soldiers crossing the river seemed cautious when they first came into contact with the river water, once their bodies entered the river water, they immediately moved forward quickly. It was as if someone behind them was forcing them with a weapon, and they seemed very eager.
This kind of performance makes people even more confused.
If he was just being cautious, Zhang Liao might not actually have much doubts. After all, when facing the enemy, even if one's own side has considerable advantages, one should not be careless, as that would only put himself in danger.
However, the enemy, who behaved very normally before entering the river, behaved abnormally after entering the river. This really makes people feel suspicious. Even though this is the place where Zhang Liao's troops chose to cross the river, while riding a horse,
One side is completely a pawn, and the situation it must face will definitely be slightly different, which may cause unnecessary losses.
So even if you don't send anyone to investigate, you should at least show the same caution as before after entering the water.
Of course, it is also possible that the other party has already had enough knowledge of the waterways here and can swim safely and boldly, but it is still the same problem just now. The contrast between before and after is so great that one really has to wonder if there is any problem.
If something goes wrong, it must be a monster.
"Li Meng, send the signal!"
"Yes, General!"
About one-third of the enemy's soldiers had already crossed the Wei River and were gathering in formation on the bank. There seemed to be nothing wrong with it, but Zhang Liao still decided to attack immediately without giving the opponent a chance to breathe.
This is not because I want to have a "half-crossing attack" as mentioned in the art of war. Of course, it is in line with the art of war. However, the main reason is not that the enemy troops have not yet fully formed their formation. After all, the enemy's previous performance
With their super personal fighting power and stronger will to fight, they are still difficult to defeat even if they fight independently.
What really made Zhang Liao make up his mind was that most of the opponent's crossbowmen pressing behind him had already entered the river. And judging from the opponent's previous performance when crossing the river, it was obvious that the enemy's crossbowmen would not use their hands in the water.
Instead of using a crossbow, it will move quickly towards the shore with its head down.
This created a temporary gap in the local long-range coverage and strike firepower. Without the coverage strike of the crossbowmen that Zhang Liao was most concerned about, at least Zhang Liao's troops could take advantage of the situation to launch a wave of attacks. Even if they would not achieve great results,
You can rely on the speed advantage of the cavalry to retreat to a safer distance before the enemy's crossbowmen can react.
By the way, you can also test whether there is anything wrong with the enemy, and verify whether there is something wrong with Zhang Liao's warrior intuition - at least in many previous battles, this kind of intuition has been Zhang Liao's very important helper.
.
Zhang Liao's troops took action again, and this time he was accompanied by Hua Xiong, who was ambushing in an area not too far away. With the speed of the cavalry, it would not even take more than an hour to get here.
Zhang Liao's actions really caught the enemy's expectations. They had no idea that the enemy, who was at a disadvantage, would launch an attack again. Even though their current state was not the best time, the enemy was able to accurately seize this rare opportunity.
He was not intimidated by their strength and made the most correct decision. This is indeed admirable.
For ordinary soldiers, they may not know whether Zhang Liao's move is worthy of admiration. The only thing they know is that when they were in the most unstable moment, the enemy seemed to rush over without hesitation.
Even the most determined troops had a little commotion at this time.
Perhaps, some of them thought of the flying general who had defeated them several times.
"Eh?!"
Feeling the touch from the tip of the long knife to his palm and brain, Zhang Liao couldn't help but make a sound of surprise.
Because there was no threat of crossbows, even though there was still a dense forest of arrows on the ground, they could not withstand the heroic Bingzhou Army soldiers. They did not choose to collide directly with the other side's soldiers. This had already happened in previous battles.
It proved to be a rather stupid idea. Although the enemy seemed not much different from them in terms of height, they far exceeded them in terms of strength and weight. They all seemed to be strong men, and of course their tonnage could hold up to five.
Strong.
Therefore, under the leadership of Zhang Liao, the cavalry of the Bingzhou Army relied on their excellent riding skills to lightly pass in front of the enemy's unsteady formation, like sharp scimitars, evading heavy encirclement and defenses, and at the end
Gently grazing the weak spot will not only prevent the scimitar blade from being damaged, but it can also cause maximum damage to the enemy.
Yes, this time Zhang Liao also did not use the cavalry bows they were equipped with, because this kind of attack that disrupts the enemy's formation is not only useless to the opponent in front of him, but may also allow the opponent to adapt to the intensity of his own attack. And then
Return to normal state from what was not a serious shake in the first place.
From dealing with the opponent's light cavalry to the enemy's infantry that has not yet been fully formed, Zhang Liao has always adhered to the attitude of "Kill you while you are sick". If you don't move, you must give the opponent the biggest blow.
Give the other person time to react.
However, the result of this attack still surprised Zhang Liao, and he was even more surprised than happy.
It's not that the enemy came up with any weapons or fighting conditions that made Zhang Liao more frightened, but that the results of this attack far exceeded what he thought before. The iron-blooded warrior who was originally as hard as iron, in this attack
It looked as if it had suddenly turned into paper. More than 300 people fell down in just one attack from Zhang Liao's men.
You must know that just now, they still had plenty of physical strength, and when they took advantage of the enemy's weaknesses, they paid a huge price to barely defeat the light cavalry force of more than a thousand people.
But this time, just one impact caused one-third of the damage caused by the previous battle.
When did the enemy army become so weak, or were they just paper tigers?!
"This, how is this possible?"
The one with more straight eyes than Zhang Liao was naturally Li Meng, who had just had a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the opponent. Because he was too shocked, he even made a bad performance of looking at his hands in a daze on the battlefield.
.
If Zhang Liao's personal guard hadn't stabbed him quickly with his hand and helped him resist a spear that was stabbing him, maybe even if Li Meng didn't die immediately on the battlefield, he would definitely become a gourd, and maybe he would.
Chopped into minced meat.
Maybe he will be wrapped up by Zhen Guanxi and given to Lu Tixia, but I don’t know.
But on the battlefield, there is no room for you to think too much. Now that you have found a loophole to exploit and an advantage to take advantage of, and both sides are fighting for life and death, you can do whatever it takes to kill the other party. Naturally, you cannot give up this great opportunity.
Good opportunity. Even if the enemy's fighting will and spirit are worthy of respect, the more respectable the opponent is, the more he will take advantage of this opportunity to kill him.
Otherwise, when the opponent comes back to his senses, the Bingzhou Army will be the unlucky one.
So from Zhang Liao down, everyone fought bravely to be the first, especially those soldiers who had a lucky escape following Li Meng. Everyone's eyes were red and their mouths were almost ready to spit fire, wanting to avenge the loss of their robes.
Although the enemy resisted desperately and more and more soldiers came ashore, especially the crossbowmen who drew their bows and arrows and shot at the Bingzhou Army before they even lined up after landing, this was no longer able to stop the Bingzhou Army that had already broken out.
Not to mention, without letting Zhang Liao's soldiers wait long, Hua Xiong and his cavalry appeared at the edge of the battlefield and moved towards the center of the battlefield at high speed. Obviously, it wouldn't take long for the two detachments of the Bingzhou Army to converge.
By that time, the enemy army that had exposed its flaws would be unable to resist the Bingzhou Army, which had new troops joining them.
Even though they still have a certain advantage in the number of soldiers. (To be continued...)
