Chapter 2: Bloodshed on the battlefield and escape from the Immortal Gate
Chapter 110 Reinforcements Arrive
I don’t know whether it was because of Jiang Yun’s persuasion, or whether Xiqi had no idea at all. Seven days later, when Jiang Tainian led the army to Xiqi, the Xiqi army had already assembled outside the city.
Xiqi is the smallest province in the west of Jiang State, with less than 60,000 permanent troops. Even if emergency recruitment has begun, this time it can only manage to gather 100,000 troops, and they are basically infantry.
The army gathered together and headed straight for Qixia Pass.
Dingyuan City was the last province he passed through this time. Ye Feng still remembered Dingyuan Admiral Jiang Dazhi, who was Jiang Tainian's disciple.
Sure enough, Jiang Dazhi Point, twenty miles outside Dingyuan City, was already waiting.
Jiang Dazhi naturally remembered Ye Feng. He probably didn't know Ye Feng's situation, but seeing that Ye Feng had been by Jiang Tainian's side, he knew that he was Jiang Tainian's guard. Although he was still angry, he just gave him a fierce look.
That’s all.
Dingyuan is the most well-prepared and has the largest number of troops. The four provinces are united in one place, with a total strength of more than 600,000 troops, which is vast and stretches for hundreds of miles.
After receiving news that the war at Qixia Pass had started ten days ago, Jiang Tainian stopped at Dingyuan City for the first time to conduct military dispatch.
The more than 600,000-strong army is only the main combat force, including cavalry and infantry. As for the logistics support troops, the logistics support troops are not included.
Cavalry and infantry actually have different subdivisions. Cavalry is divided into light cavalry, heavy armored cavalry and rangers. Infantry is simply heavy infantry and light infantry. It is too cumbersome to subdivide based on combat functions.
There are only 100,000 permanent troops in Qixia Pass, and the war is about to begin. Several nearby prefectural cities know the truth of death and coldness, and recruit troops on their own. Together with the original prefectural soldiers, they support more than 50,000 troops.
Jiang Meiliang is well versed in the art of war. Facing a massive invasion by Wu's two million troops, with her more than 100,000 men, holding on to Qixia Pass is definitely asking for death. She may not even be able to withstand a wave of Wu's attacks.
Therefore, Jiang Meiliang would not wait for help, but would lead 30,000 light cavalry out to meet the enemy.
Although Qixia Pass is said to be the border pass of Jiang State, it is actually thousands of miles away from the border city of Wu State. There are mostly barren mountainous areas and deserts in between. Two million troops cannot be said to march in a row, so the actual battle line is quite long.
Wu's vanguard has approached Qixia Pass a hundred miles away, but the real main force is still thousands of miles away, so what Jiang Meiliang is really facing is Wu's 100,000 vanguard.
Jiang Meiliang's pressure on Wu's army was still quite huge. Although he knew that Jiang Meiliang only led 30,000 light cavalry, the vanguard general did not dare to be careless at all.
Being a vanguard meant opening the way. It was Wu Jun's sharp spear, but he couldn't retreat and not fight, otherwise he would not be able to bear the responsibility for weakening Wu Jun's momentum, so he could only deal with it as carefully as possible.
But even if he was careful enough, he still suffered several defeats in a row. The loss of troops and generals was still a small matter. After all, he led a hundred thousand people, so losing tens of thousands of people was not a big deal.
But the problem is that in this way, his vanguard spirit is completely lost, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. The strategic intention of completing the commander's order to reach Qixia Pass and blocking Jiang Jun in the pass has completely failed.
The current Wu army's vanguard is completely unable to advance or retreat if it is not right.
If he advances, he will face the attack of Jiang Meiliang's 30,000 cavalry. Once more troops come out of Qixia Pass, he will be flanked by two sides and may be in danger of annihilating his entire army.
If he retreats, he will not be able to fulfill the strategic intention of the commander, and it will also destroy the morale of the Wu army. As a pioneer officer, he will also be dead.
After careful consideration, Wu Jun had to stop, but the problem was that the vanguard battalion relied on its indomitable momentum and was all lightly armed. It was impossible to set up a strong camp and hold on.
So although they stopped, they faced harassment and sneak attacks from Jiang Meiliang's light cavalry every day. After ten days, the entire team was on the verge of collapse.
Dingyuan City is still nearly 1,500 miles away from Qixia Pass, and it will take ten days to reach it at the speed of infantry. The Wu army is already less than a thousand miles away. This is obviously not what Jiang Tainian wants to see.
Jiang Tainian knew very well that since Jiang Meiliang had left the pass to fight the enemy, he would never retreat back to Qixia Pass, because if there were no reinforcements, retreating would only lead to death.
And she led 30,000 cavalry. Even the main force of the Wu army could not ignore them. They had to be annihilated first, otherwise they would never dare to attack Qixia Pass.
Therefore, Jiang Meiliang's 30,000 cavalry can completely contain the Wu army and buy Qixia Pass as much time as possible to support them, but the result they face is that they can only fight alone and run out of ammunition and food.
Of course, if the reinforcements can arrive before the main force of the Wu army arrives, Jiang Meiliang will have a chance to withdraw to Qixia Pass. However, with the current total strength of Jiang State, it is difficult to defend Qixia Pass, because under the snow in winter, the Qixia Pass city wall is useless.
, there is no advantage in defending the city at all.
In winter battles, only when the troops leave Qixia Pass can they be used. It is not advisable to rely on the favorable geographical location of Qixia Pass. The battle will be attrition. With the disadvantage of military strength, Jiang State will be defeated.
Dingyuan has strong military strength, and Jiang Dazhi is a direct descendant of Jiang Tainian. After Jiang Tainian led his troops to join forces in Dingyuan City, there was no longer any suspense to support Qixia Pass.
Jiang Tainian was known as the God of War. How could he not know that Qixia Pass was so powerful? Even before arriving at Dingyuan, he had begun to restructure the team, and all the cavalry were separated from their original departments.
As soon as they arrived at Dingyuan, they immediately appointed Jiang Tiance as the commander of the cavalry. The 100,000 cavalrymen headed straight for Qixia Pass without stopping at all.
Ye Feng kept Jiang Meiliang in mind, and seeing that Jiang Tainian was not a safety risk, he followed Jiang Tiance regardless of Jiang Tainian's pleas to stay.
One hundred thousand cavalry are not all the same. They are actually divided into light cavalry and heavy cavalry. There is no way to say who has stronger combat power. The main reason is that the application is different. Of course, the heavy cavalry is indeed an absolute elite. After all, it is also a waste of money.
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Therefore, one hundred thousand light cavalry actually only has 30,000 heavy cavalry. If these 30,000 heavy cavalry fight head-on, they can easily tear apart 70,000 light cavalry.
But this is not the case on the battlefield, because light cavalry are not responsible for attacking tough battles, they rely on speed.
No matter how powerful your heavy cavalry is, you still have to catch up with others' light cavalry. They won't fight you at all, so it's useless for you to have strong combat power.
Jiang Tainian naturally knew this, so the 100,000 cavalry were actually divided into two teams, with 70,000 light cavalry as the vanguard, led by Jiang Tiance himself, and 30,000 heavy cavalry followed by Jiang Yun.
One thousand five hundred miles, at the speed of a light horse, it can be reached in less than three days, but Ye Feng was anxious. Jiang Tiance had also made a promise to Jiang Meiliang, and with all his strength, he arrived at Qixia Pass in two days.
The intimidating power of the 70,000 light cavalry was absolutely amazing. They were galloping at full speed and the sound spread for dozens of miles. Qixia Pass had received the news early, and all supplies and supplies were prepared in advance.
When Ye Feng and the others arrived, the entire army rested for two hours before leaving.