In the fifth year of Xiande in the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Jiafeng in the Great Han Dynasty.
The Black Flag Army came out in full force.
The 110,000 Black Flag Army was divided into three groups. One group was led by General Li Yuanchao of the Black Flag Army, who led 20,000 troops around Jiangzhou. They marched for two days and two nights and entered Qingfeng Mountain to defend themselves in preparation for Zuo Zhenwei's attack. The second group was divided into three groups.
General Cheng Jie led the army with 20,000 troops and horses, and sent troops to the south bank of the Shang River to prevent the Han army from taking advantage of the situation. The third route, led by Xiao Pojun, the leader of the Black Flag Army, personally led 70,000 troops and horses to besiege Jiangzhou.
Li Yuanchao brought 20,000 troops this time, including 3,000 inner camp troops specially assigned to him by Xiao Pojun. These 3,000 inner camp troops were Li Yuanchao's biggest support. You must know that the most elite inner camp soldiers of the Black Flag Army
, before the great victory over Youweiwei, there were less than 5,000 men. Later, more than 2,000 Youweiwei cavalry were recruited and moved into the inner camp. Strong soldiers were selected, and the number of soldiers and horses in the inner camp increased to 8,000. Xiao Pojun
The son was given to Li Yuanchao with three thousand, which shows the importance attached to the front line of Qingfeng Mountain.
Qingfeng Mountain is not a dangerous place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, especially on the southern slope. There is a gentle slope more than a kilometer wide, and cavalry can rush up it. To defend such a large gap, Li Yuanchao actually has no confidence at all. Zuo Zhen
Wei's heavy armored infantry is as famous as the Great Zhou's Huben cavalry. Although there are only 4,000 people, if they fight in a group, they are enough to crush the 20,000 farmers under his command. Fortunately, after all, they still have a slight advantage in the terrain. Although the gentle slope
It cannot stop Zuo Zhenwei's attack, but it is not without benefit to the defensive side.
After arriving at Qingfeng Mountain, the first thing Li Yuanchao did was to order the soldiers to cut down the big tree. Remove the branches and cut them into rolling logs about two meters long. The hillside on the south side is long and gentle, and the heavy armored infantry can line up and move forward.
Squeezing, feather arrows cannot break through the defense of heavy armor, and against heavy armor infantry, rolling wood is much more effective than archers. And this time when he rushed to Qingfeng Mountain, Li Yuanchao specially brought dozens of barrels of vegetable oil.
If it really comes to a point where it cannot be defended, he really dares to grit his teeth and set fire to the mountain. If he can't be killed by shooting or beating, he doesn't believe that he can't burn the heavy armored infantry of Zuo Zhenwei.
It’s not like the Black Flag Army has never fought against Zuo Zhenwei. In the last battle, Zuo Zhenwei’s heavy armored infantry was a nightmare for the Black Flag Army. The heavy armored infantry of a regiment of 300 men marched steadily.
They strode forward like steel beasts, and the green forest soldiers of the Black Flag Army could not resist them. As soon as they made contact, they were killed by the heavy armored infantry of Zuo Zhenwei as if they were chopping melons and vegetables.
The equipment of the Black Flag Army is far less sophisticated than that of the official army. They can't even have a standard horizontal sword of the Dazhou Dynasty. They have no leather armor, no handy weapons, and no big killers like heavy crossbows. They rely on sickles and hoes to fight.
How can sharpened white levers, wooden sticks, and simple spears withstand the Zhou army armed to the teeth?
Therefore, after Li Yuanchao received Xiao Pojun's order, he didn't sleep much for two nights. He had a splitting headache and was racking his brains to think of how to deal with the heavy armored infantry of Zuo Zhenwei. The Black Flag Army of Qingfeng Mountain passed by it once when they went north.
So he knew that it was too difficult to defend the southern hillside. Only vicious methods such as rolling logs and fuel would be effective. Xiao Pojun gave him a death order. No matter what method he used, he must hold on to Qingfeng Mountain until the moment Jiangzhou City was broken.
, otherwise even if he escapes back, he will be dealt with by military law.
Li Yuanchao knew Xiao Pojun's methods, and he knew that if he still wanted to survive, he must fight the battle at Qingfeng Mountain.
The scout returned and told Li Yuanchao that no trace of the Zhou army was found on the front line of Qingfeng Mountain. After confirming that he had arrived first, Li Yuanchao could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Then he ordered the soldiers to cut down the trees, then set up iron pots to burn oil, and at the same time mobilized
Five thousand men and horses began to dig horse pits on the southern hillside.
The so-called horse trap is not like what is depicted in movies and TV shows, where a large pit needs to be dug several meters wide and several meters deep, and a horse cannot jump out even if it falls in. Not to mention how long it will take to complete such a large project, just
Making a disguise is a headache, right? There are huge holes dug all over the ground, which are several meters or even more than ten meters long. How can you hide it? In TV series and movies, there is naturally a way to make it look like flat ground, because the director will ask people to dig one or two at most.
That's it, then cover it with canvas and sprinkle soil on it. On the battlefield, what is the probability that only one or two big holes are dug and the cavalry keeps falling into them?
Besides, it’s the twelfth lunar month of winter, the ground is frozen, and the Black Flag Army doesn’t have bulldozers. Wouldn’t it be difficult for them to dig out a large hole a few meters or even ten meters wide?
Trapping pits are actually small pits that are only one or two feet deep. Han Chi, one foot is about 23 centimeters. It is already very laborious to dig such pits in the frozen soil. Don’t think that such small pits are
The pits are of no use. If thousands of horse pits are dug on the hillside and the horses gallop, the probability of spraining their feet is very high. As long as the horses knock down the cavalry and fall off their horses, nothing will happen.
It's so good that my mouth is sprained...
From working in the morning to sunset, thousands of horse traps were dug out on the hillside. Although they are not densely packed, they can definitely prevent the horses from running. Li Yuanchao never thought about counterattack from the beginning to the end, so he did not plan to himself
The cavalry rushed down the hillside and used the terrain to attack the enemy. He dared to think about it but did not dare to implement it. He did not have many cavalry, and the three thousand soldiers in the inner camp were all infantry. Even if he managed to scrape together a thousand cavalry, it would not be enough to kill them.
Zuo Zhenwei filled the gap between his teeth.
War horses are precious treasures. Even the Liao Dynasty, which is famous for its cavalry, has an army of nearly two million, but actually has less than 400,000 cavalry, which is the palace army that Daliao claims to be invincible in the world. And these 400,000 cavalry are almost used up.
All the war horses of Daliao were destroyed. And these 400,000 palace troops could still dominate the prairie. If they really entered the Central Plains to fight, these 400,000 cavalry would be condensed to around 100,000 at most. They would have left their natural playground.
, what are the supplies for the 400,000 cavalrymen?
With the strength of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the elites of the Twelve Guards, each guard could only be equipped with two thousand to three thousand cavalry at most. For example, the Youwei Guard was equipped with 20,000 cavalry, which was completely pieced together. Such cavalry
Even 50,000 people could not defeat the 10,000 elite tiger cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, the reason why Meng Hu equipped so many cavalry was mainly to deal with the three major green forest rebels in the north. For the green forest soldiers who had little combat effectiveness, the cavalry
The lethality of the cavalry is much greater. Moreover, you should know that of the 20,000 cavalrymen of the Right Guards, only a quarter of them have real war horses, and most of the other cavalry's mounts are horses and mules.
After sending out scouts to inquire about the officers and soldiers, Li Yuanchao and several of his capable generals stood on the hillside and looked down.
"With such a wide and gentle slope, even if we dig a horse pit, it would be difficult to stop Zuo Zhenwei's cavalry. The general has the foresight again. As long as we cut down enough trees and prepare more rolling logs, no matter it is the cavalry or those who are troublesome
The heavy armored infantry is difficult to attack!"
One of his subordinates flattered Li Yuanchao beautifully. No doubt, Li Yuanchao liked the word foresight very much.
"As a general, you must take into account everything that is useful on the battlefield. Even if you can't understand astronomy, you still have to do it with the help of geography. We follow the commander-in-chief, and now we have an army of 100,000
, we can no longer go around like we used to with only three to five hundred people occupying the mountain and becoming kings. Now you little bastards each have thousands of soldiers under your command, so you have to act like a general!"
The generals under him were given another meal of sweet flattery, which was so fragrant that it made people feel happy.
He pointed to the bottom of the hillside and said: "Here, right here, we must show the majesty of the Black Flag Army. Last time at Dashang River, we wiped out Meng Hu's right guard in one fell swoop. This time, at Qingfeng Mountain, I will
I don’t believe that I can’t kill Zuo Zhenwei! As long as we win this battle again and the commander-in-chief captures Jiangzhou City, who among the heroes of the green forest can compare with our black flag army? Not to mention Xu Shengzhi’s gray army, Liu Shalang
The Red Eyebrow Army, including Yang Yishan who has proclaimed himself emperor in the south, still don't behave like a quail when they see our Black Flag Army?"
A general smiled and said: "General, if this battle goes well, the general will definitely be the first general under the commander-in-chief. Even if Cheng Jie can jump, can he still compare with the general?"
Cheng Jie and Li Yuanchao don't get along, and neither of them obeys the other. This is a well-known fact in the Black Flag Army. Both of them are holding back their strength and want to trample the other under their feet, but Xiao Pojun is suppressing them.
There was no fight.
"Cheng Jie?!"
Li Yuanchao snorted coldly.
"Tell the brothers to have a good rest tonight. It won't take long for the Zuo Zhenwei to arrive. Early tomorrow morning, send people to organize the first line of defense at the bottom of the hillside. Set up more resisting horses and try to knock down a group of Zuo Zhenwei at the bottom of the hillside.
soldiers!"
"Here!"
Several generals responded vaguely.
Just as Li Yuanchao was about to turn around, he suddenly heard someone shouting something down the hillside. He frowned and listened.
"Report! Report! Zuo Zhenwei is here! Zuo Zhenwei's people are coming to kill!"
They are the scouts who were just sent out to find out the news!
Li Yuanchao was stunned for a moment, and then shouted loudly: "What are you still doing? Hurry up and blast everyone! Blow the trumpet! Blow the trumpet!"
While giving the order, he strode towards the scout.
When the scout was more than ten steps away, he jumped off his horse, ran a few steps and knelt down on one knee: "Report to the general! Zuo Zhenwei's army is already three miles away!"
Three miles!
Li Yuanchao took a breath of cold air and carefully looked at the blood-stained scout in front of him under the light of the torch. It could be seen from the damaged leather armor on his body and the blood stains that had not yet solidified. What kind of treatment did this scout go through?
Only after a bloody battle did he escape.
"General, you don't have to look... I'm the only one out of twenty brothers!"
The scout bit his lip with a sad look on his face. (To be continued)
