The left wing was the royal guard camp of the Danluo King, commanded by Li Ji, the crown prince of the Danluo King. Under the fierce offensive of the enemy's horse soldiers, which was as fierce as a prairie fire, they could not withstand it and retreated steadily...
Zhao Hu laid out a hollow square formation. The military strategist was fond of saying that the hollow area in the middle of the formation was strange and empty. It was the key to attacking from all sides, retreating and advancing, adjusting troops, changing formations, and responding to the offensive.
Once some defenders cannot support themselves and retreat to fill the hollow space in the middle of the array, the entire array will become dull and sluggish, and the general will not be able to control the entire array freely, and the collapse of the entire army will not be far away.
Obviously, the enemy general also focused on the weakness of the Huaidong Army's left wing. Even if Zhao Hu deployed his reserve troops in batches on the left wing in order to hold it open, the enemy army kept wading through the shallow water filled with pebbles.
ditch, throw troops into the left wing, and destroy the left wing in one go, and then collapse the entire defensive formation of the Huaidong reinforcements.
In the critical moment, Zhao Hu could only wear armor and go into battle. He put only half of his battalion in reserve into the front line, gave up defense, led his troops to attack outwards, and ordered Chi Yuanji on his right wing to follow him.
The Danluo royal guard camp on the left wing is entangled by the enemy troops and may collapse at any time. If reserve troops are deployed within a narrow radius, they will not be able to contact the enemy troops in the fighting zone on the left wing, which will only make the left wing more bloated and sluggish.
.
When the left wing was likely to collapse at any time, in order to avoid being involved, Zhao Hu could only order other troops to spread out forcefully to distance themselves from the left wing, and even more deliberately involved all enemy troops in the chaos——
Even if Ge Changgen could not lead his troops to attack from the rear in time, Zhao Hu would still have to defeat Chen Zhihu's side forces and inflict losses on both sides in order to give Gao Zongting the necessary time to retreat in Dengzhou.
In terms of experience on the battlefield, Gao Yi is more experienced than Zhao Hu. He saw Zhao Hu's intention clearly and ordered the cavalry that was stalking the front line to retreat and put some distance between them...
The cavalry retreated from the battlefield at a speed that no infantry could catch up with.
Once the distance was widened and there was room for the subsequent cavalry to charge, Gao Yi did not hesitate to throw the 400 most elite cavalry in his hand, who had been left to build up their strength but had not yet entered the battlefield, into the battlefield, abandoning their bows and crossbows, and attacked him
The Huaidong Army's front line, which spread outwards and dispersed in formation, launched a direct charge.
Zhao Hu holds the rope in one hand and rushes forward with his horse. The infantry on the left and right are clustered around him, forming a tight formation of people squeezing each other against each other. They use snow-white swords and spears to form a wall of spears and knives.
Be prepared to withstand the fierce impact of enemy cavalry.
When they collided with the enemy cavalry, countless people suffered broken bones and bruises. They actually used their bodies, armor, swords, and spears to intercept the enemy cavalry more than ten steps away from Zhao Hu...
The enemy soldiers were riding on horseback, condescending, swinging their swords left and right, slashing left and right, and stabbing back and forth with their lances, giving them an advantage. However, this advantage was far less than that of the enemy's cavalry, whose horses were fast and high, and struck back and forth sharply.
The Huaidong infantry just lowered their heads to block with their shields, slashed with their swords, stabbed with their spears, and resisted without taking a step back. With such desperate methods, the center of the melee between the two sides was blocked tightly in the blink of an eye, weakening the advantage of the enemy's cavalry.
Once the blockade is established, even if the enemy soldiers are on horseback, they will not be able to take advantage of the horseback riding to maneuver, and it will turn into a bloody battle to the death. Once the distance is close, the enemy soldiers are on horseback, unable to stab with lances, and wielding knives.
It is also difficult to cut the neck under the iron helmet and face guard.
Seeing that the first charge failed, the enemy cavalry pulled back, leaving dozens of dead bodies and broken limbs. Taking advantage of the horse's speed, they quickly distanced themselves and launched a second charge.
On Zhao Hu's left and right are fierce soldiers from the Haidong Xingying Mansion's guard camp. They are the Huaidong elites left by Lin Fu to Zhao Hu to intimidate Haidong.
If everyone forgets to die, the army will naturally be more powerful. However, in order to ensure that everyone forgets to die, in addition to strict discipline, it is also necessary to ensure that everyone from the general to the junior military attachés to ordinary soldiers is ashamed to retreat.
If soldiers are made of flesh and blood, then the grassroots military attachés are the backbone and skeleton that support the army. Other armies in the world used bloody battles to forge their backbones, but Huaidong systematically cultivated their backbones in combat training schools, and then tempered by bloody battles, they became more and more tenacious.
indestructible.
In such a melee, Zhao Hu riding on horseback has a stronger symbolic meaning, just like a flag. His flag will not fall down. Many military attaches and soldiers gathered around him, and they would rather die than retreat, like a rock. The enemy
The soldiers also knew his identity, and being so close to the fighting battlefield, enemy soldiers riding on horseback could shoot at him.
Zhao Hu did not dismount his horse to evade, only covering his head and face with his left arm covered with gauntlet, and did not care about the arrows hitting his body. Although Zhao Hu wore fish scale armor, his hands, calves, etc. were not covered, and he was so close.
There was also a weak point in the joint between the scales and armor. When dozens of enemy arrows came at him, Zhao Hu was instantly shot through the right palm of his hand by arrows, and three arrows hung on his scales penetrated into his flesh.
The general's desperate efforts also inspired his subordinates to fight bloody battles.
Chi Yuanji came from a pirate family and was not good at riding. He did not ride a horse when he went to the battlefield. He only asked people to carry his flag. He rushed out from the right wing with a big sword. His troops were spread out in a cone shape, and he himself was the iron cone.
Pointed, it hit the side corner of the enemy cavalry who was charging for the second time. Zhao Hu and Zhao Hu were on the left and right, and the enemy cavalry's attack was caught in the middle.
Even the left wing, which had been beaten back steadily just now, seemed to have been given a shot of vitality at this moment, and had the potential to stabilize its position.
Gao Yi's expression was heavy. He knew that the Huaidong Army was an elite force that was not inferior to his own. The generals were brave and fearless of death. He knew that this battle was difficult to fight and he was fully prepared in his heart. However, he could defeat the left wing and defeat this group in one fell swoop.
How could he be so willing to send reinforcements to Huaidong because his general was desperately trying to lead the front line to push outwards. He could grab the chance of victory with just his hand and then disappear in the blink of an eye?
In Gao Yi's opinion, the Tiger Army's forward battalion is the strongest army in the world, but the Huaidong Army's infantry, which has a similar number of troops, clashes with the elite light cavalry of the forward battalion. The cavalry can only break through a distance of less than ten steps. Gao Yi
I felt very uncomfortable. I regretted that when I set out, I only wanted to be brisk and did not bring hundreds of sets of cavalry armor...
Although the cavalry will be subject to many restrictions when fighting heavily defended infantry formations, when the infantry formations are spread out, the formations are scattered, and the formations are floating, the cavalry in the forward battalion cannot break through the cavalry. Gao Yi cannot accept this result.
Seeing that the originally weak right wing of the Huaidong Army began to attack with all its strength, Gao Yi hesitated to throw the last of his troops into the battlefield to entangle the right wing of the Huaidong Army. However, in this way, even if he won in the end, there would be only a few casualties.
It would be extremely disastrous and they would lose the ability to continuously attack Dengzhou City.
Suddenly a strong wind blew from west to east, causing dust and rocks to fly away. Gao Yi was greatly inspired.
Weather is one of the most critical factors in war, and successfully fighting the headwind is a huge advantage.
The wind blew sand and rocks against their faces, and the Huaidong Army was so blown away that they couldn't keep their eyes open. How could they welcome the enemy cavalry coming from the wind?
However, Gao Yi was not happy for a long time. There was a killing sound coming from behind. He turned around and took a sip from the strong wind. The fine gravel hit his face and it hurt. He vaguely saw a large group of people, rushing towards this direction!
Gao Yi's heart skipped a beat, then he realized that Huaidong had an ambush on the flank, and he actually went to the flank to hit their weak point - the wind was so strong that it carried rocks and sand, and if the horse turned around, it would also blow sand.
I was wandering around in confusion, and I didn't know how many troops the Huaidong Army had ambushed in this surprise attack. This battle was impossible to fight.
Rather than trying to punish Yan Hu, it is more important to save his own life at the moment. Gao Yi is not a coward in fighting. When there is no chance of winning in a battle, there is no point in persisting. Gao Yi immediately picked up the rope and led his troops to
Escape to the opening in the southwest corner.
There were only four to five hundred cavalrymen resting at the edge of the battlefield, waiting for battle. They could follow Gao Yi and withdraw from the battlefield in time. The other troops and horses were fighting with the Huaidong Army. How could it be so easy to withdraw at any time?
After finally waiting for Ge Changgen to lead his troops to fight out from behind, Zhao Hu led the remaining troops of the four battalions who had been almost defeated. They also rushed out together as if they had been beaten to death, spreading their legs to chase the horses.
This is how troops are used. As soon as Gao Yi retreats, all the cavalry will run away. The people flee and the horses collapse. They cannot keep a safe distance enough and cannot clean up the mess at all. The cavalry escaped very quickly. Apart from being blown away by the strong wind, the losses were not very serious.
The most serious consequences were that the troops who dismounted and attacked the left wing of the Huaidong Army entered the inner side without their horses. After being routed, they had no choice but to crawl into the mountains. Anyone who ran slower than a beat would be stabbed with knives and spears.
Flying into the sky suddenly...
It wasn't until dusk when the strong wind subsided that Zhao Hu ordered all the troops to gather at Qijiaji to collect troops, treat casualties, and count the results of the battle.
In this battle, Haidong's soldiers and horses suffered more than a thousand casualties. If Ge Changgen arrived just as late as a stick of incense, Zhao Hu would not be sure he could hold on and not collapse.
The enemy also left behind 500 corpses. Adding the routed troops and the wounded and disabled, the loss of troops must not be less than 1,000.
This battle did not take any advantage in terms of casualties, but it definitely cannot be regarded as a lose-lose situation.
Haidong soldiers and horses defended Qijiaji, repelling Chen Zhihu's partial division and crippling it. Rather than annihilating many enemy soldiers, buying time to organize the retreat of men and materials from Dengzhou was the core and first goal of this battle.
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Gao Yi retreated for more than thirty miles, throwing away his pursuers, and then stopped to clean up the mess. At dusk, he gathered less than 800 people - compared with the false defeat at Qingzhou City, this defeat was truly painful for Gao Yi.
Deep to the bone.
All the generals advised Gao Yi to return to the west bank of the Jiaolai River and join the main force; how could Gao Yi have the nerve to see Chen Zhihu at this time? He gritted his teeth and ran back, gathering some remaining soldiers, and learned that the Huaidong reinforcements were at Qijiaji
He set up camp and garrisoned, knowing that with the remaining soldiers in his hands, there was no hope of capturing the city of Dengzhou, but if he pinned it to the southwest of Buling, he could block the way for Zhao Zhen's troops in Pingdu to return to Dengzhou.
If Zhao Zhen's troops can be forced to surrender, it can be regarded as redeeming their merits.
With this idea in mind, Gao Yi led his troops to retreat slightly south to avoid the main Huaidong reinforcements stationed in Qijiaji. He looted a village at night to supply food and grass, and then drove more than a thousand remaining cavalry to the heart of Dengzhou.