The original plan was for Tang Qi to attack the northeast and let Li Daoxuan's right army fill the gap as soon as possible, and then the center army and the left army would advance together. If the Turks still refused to retreat, they would have to fight a brutal war of attrition. However,
No matter how heavy the losses are, as long as the plan can be implemented smoothly, victory will be certain.
Before the war, all the generals felt that the important road on the east side of the hill might be used by the Turkic cavalry. Once the Turks could pass through the right army's not-so-wide defense line and go back behind the formation, they would not only threaten Li Daoxuan, but also potentially threaten Li Daoxuan.
flank the Chinese army heading north.
Therefore, Li Shan and Dou Gui chose the cavalry to attack the northeast to cover Li Daoxuan's arrival at the designated location as soon as possible, so that the Turks could not make a roundabout move.
But now Su Dingfang issued a temporary order to divert the former army to the northwest. This naturally surprised Hu Yan, but Zhang Zhongjian sighed secretly in his heart, after all, he was not as good as Zhao Guogong.
He was in the front line, watching the battle situation, but hesitant, while Su Dingfang looked from a distance, but made a decision immediately.
With the horse in his hand raised high, Zhang Zhongjian shouted to summon his personal guards, charged into the battle in person, and led thousands of cavalry from the front army to charge northwest, which was the hill surrounded by heavy troops.
If you have a pair of eyes looking down from the sky, on the battlefield on the east side of the battlefield that is not too wide, under the command of Su Dingfang, Duan Zhixuan and Feng Li took turns leading the cavalry to attack. The two deputy general managers of the cavalry with different positions did not hesitate to leave behind.
Fighting desperately, under such an offensive, the Turkic soldiers could no longer stand their ground and slowly retreated.
Li Dao
A small force was detached to drive away the approaching Turkic cavalry.
In the battlefield on the right, the northernmost hill is surrounded by nearly ten thousand Turks. Ashina She'er and Tuli Khan stand under the Khan flag to watch the battle. The former army led by Zhang Zhongjian passes through from the south.
The flank attack was on the flank of the Turkic formation. Although it was difficult to penetrate, the Turks were killed and retreated steadily.
Ashina She'er and Tuli Khan did not care about the war in front of them. There were nearly 10,000 troops, including more than 5,000 of the most elite king's soldiers. Not to mention Zhang Zhongjian's front army, even if the Tang army pressed all the cavalry up
, to no avail.
The two Khans also knew that the Tang army was making a full-scale attack today, with cavalry on the left and right, but the middle was free. The scouts reported that the Chinese army was gradually pressing forward, and that the King of Handan was placing his treasure on the infantry.
...After all, for so many days before, both sides had been coming and going, and the cavalry's route to the battle was well known.
"There is no rush." Ashina She'er said with a smile: "Wait until the Tang army's infantry reaches the hundred paces, then retreat. The Tang cavalry will not be able to catch up."
Tuli Khan turned his head and glanced at the battlefield on the east side, nodded and said: "Su Dingfang Cheng is a famous general. Even if the east side wins a big victory, it will be difficult to cut off our retreat."
Ashina Sheer chuckled softly, "Firstly, even if Su Dingfang breaks the formation, the follow-up troops will be enough to resist. Secondly..."
While he was talking, a group of more than a thousand Turkic cavalry bypassed Su Dingfang at a fast speed, moved in the narrow battlefield, sometimes headed west, sometimes south, and finally galloped southeast. After a while, they fought with Ma Sanbao again.
Detouring, it appeared between the Tang Army's center and right armies.
Tuli Khan's face was quite complicated. He clearly felt that his cousin next to him had strong control over his subordinates. On such a battlefield, this cavalry interspersed in that position and played an extremely critical role in threatening the Tang army.
The central army could threaten the flanks and rear of the right army, which would directly force Su Dingfang to deploy an array to cover the battlefield and not dare to go north easily.
But at the same time, the fate of the cavalry was a narrow escape. On one side was the central army with more than 10,000 troops, and on the other side was the right army with thousands of troops, and there was no shortage of cavalry. In this case, this cavalry was bound to
will be annihilated in a short time.
Such control over his subordinates... Tuli Khan couldn't help but think that if he gave such an order, he might even refuse to do so.
The direction of the battle was basically the same as what the Turkic Khan had expected. Su Dingfang no longer tried to penetrate the Turkic formation northward, but spread out the array horizontally, trying to cover the battlefield, organizing the insertion of the Turkic cavalry, and waiting for the infantry behind to enter the battlefield as soon as possible.
Advance step by step.
And the fate of the cavalry was no different from what Tuli Khan expected. Li Shan spent all his energy in this battle, and even the rear army was replenished to the middle army. Qian Jiulong ordered General Qian to lead hundreds of cavalry.
When they went out to fight, Ma Sanbao from the other side also followed. Within a quarter of an hour, more than a thousand Turkic cavalry were almost wiped out, with only a few dozen cavalry fleeing.
In such a war, the general's commanding ability is actually greatly weakened. Pre-war planning is the embodiment of commanding ability. After all, it is not like a football game, where there are on-the-spot adjustments and even substitutions.
After handing over the command of the Chinese army to Qian Jiulong, Li Shan actually had nothing to do. He even left the timing and location of Mo Daoshou to Qian Jiulong.
Li Shan thought about this battle many times and made many plans for nearly ten days. He only hoped that the generals on the battlefield could follow the rules, complete their tasks, and successfully drive the Turks out of Jingzhou.
But unexpectedly, something unexpected happened. Su Dingfang temporarily adjusted the direction of the attack and asked Zhang Zhongjian to turn to the northwest to attack the hill.
Li Shan also predicted before the battle that the possibility of accidents in such a battle was very high, but he did not expect that it would happen to Su Dingfang.
In the original plan, Su Dingfang and Zhang Zhongjian led the main cavalry force to attack the battlefield on the east side, forcing the Turks to retreat. As long as they could penetrate into the formation, Dou Gui, Li Daoxuan, and Qian Jiulong led the three armies to go north. At that time, A Shi on the hill
Then She'er, wasn't Tuli Khan afraid that Tang Qi would cut off his retreat?
One bad thing is the great victory of capturing and killing two Khans.
Now, Su Dingfang made a temporary adjustment and Zhang Zhongjian turned around, which resulted in the Tang army's strength on the eastern battlefield being greatly weakened. It also caused a small group of Turkic cavalry to venture through the gaps and threaten the flanks of the central army and the right army. It also caused Su Dingfang to be unable to attack.
Go all out to the north and force the Turks to retreat in a gesture of cutting off their retreat.
There was a sudden mountain breeze, and Li Shan felt a chill on his head and face. He touched it reflexively, and found that his forehead was already damp, and he was sweating like pulp.
"Brother Dingfang should be the one to report back." Wang Junhao pointed in the distance and personally came forward with his guards to respond.
"Mr. Lang, the Turks seem to be intending to retreat." The guards were also covered in sweat, and there was an arrow stuck in their shoulders. "Today, Duke Zhao led his cavalry to break the formation, and the resistance of the Turks was not fierce."
"It's not violent?" Li Shan murmured: "Are you really going to retreat?"
This is a logical conjecture. Today, the main force of the Tang Army has been used up to fight to the death. It is necessary to seize the important road. For the Turks, this important road is very important, but its important status in the minds of both sides is absolutely different.