Huan Qi went out of the city thirty miles to meet them.
At this time, the cavalry team, which originally consisted of 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 reinforcements, had only about 20,000 people left, which shows the fierce pursuit along the way.
Leaving the mountainous area, we set foot on the vast plain to the east of Qicheng, surrounded by mountains. The Weishui River section of the Yellow River flows from You to the east fifty miles away from the north. Due to the heavy mountains, you cannot see it unless you climb to a high place.
The spectacular scene of the rushing river.
It is a full three hundred miles from Hangu Pass to the north.
Xiang Shaolong and Huan Qi rode side by side, and the army headed towards Wucheng. The former saw that the defense fortifications along the way were well done, and all the commanding heights were equipped with fortresses made of earth and stone. He said with satisfaction: "Xiao Qi really has the ability.
, just looking at the formation shown here is enough to convince Pang Yuan."
Huan Qi was praised by him and said happily: "The general is on the front line and is going through life and death. How can I hide here and only enjoy peace and happiness? Now Qicheng has joined the army that has withdrawn, with a total strength of 150,000, and everyone is nourishing."
They were charging up, and they knew that the general was personally behind the scenes so that they could reach the final city safely. He also knew that the general was aiming to lure the enemy to the west and turn the enemy into a tired army so that they could be beaten severely, so now everyone is gearing up to become the general.
Serve to death."
Jing Jun from behind was chatting and laughing with Huan Qi, laughing and scolding: "Xiao Qi turns out to be so cunning and knows how to spread rumors. Fortunately, these rumors have the effect of boosting morale, otherwise you will be punished according to military law."
Everyone laughed.
Huan Qi said hello to Zhou Liang who was behind Shaolong and praised: "Brother Zhou has made great achievements today. Now everyone in the army calls you the Eagle God. As long as they see you, no one will worry about being attacked by the enemy.
"
Zhou Liang smiled so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. He touched the Eagle King on his shoulder and expressed his humility.
While talking and laughing, Xiang Shaolong and others crossed the moat and entered the city through the lowered suspension bridge.
That scene immediately startled Xiang Shaolong and the others.
The soldiers and civilians in the city crowded into the main street and lined the streets, cheering like crazy. It was like they had returned triumphantly, but in fact the real battle had not yet happened.
Three days later, the leading troops of the He Cong Army arrived in the area east of the Qicheng Plain.
Huan Qi took advantage of their weakness of being exhausted and unfamiliar with the terrain, and attacked and raided them day and night, and set fire to the camp to burn food. The He Congjun was forced to retreat for more than 20 miles before they could regain their position, but
Nearly 10,000 people have been killed, and the blow to morale has been particularly severe.
Xiang Shaolong and others took this opportunity to gain space for rest and recovery, and spent all day rehearsing formations outside Wucheng.
Xiang and Teng chose the "crab" formation from Mozi's Art of War, which was most conducive to fighting in this closed environment. That is, they did not concentrate their forces on the front as a "main force" as usual, but concentrated their forces.
The "surprise soldiers" attack from both wings.
Since they were fighting with their backs to the city, the "regular soldiers" could use the trebuchets on the high walls and the crossbows from high above to increase their defense, so they were not afraid of the enemy's main frontal attack.
As for the surprise troops on both wings, the two most elite cavalry and support cavalry are the main force. Their thick-backed broadswords are most suitable for this kind of charge and slashing task.
The enemy is coming from the west, and there are mountain fortresses all along the way. The heavy siege vehicles and trebuchets will be abandoned on the road, which reduces the threat to the Qin army. At present, the only favorable condition for joining the army is the superior number of people.
.
It has now entered autumn, and if the He Congjun fails to break through Wucheng before the harsh winter comes, they will be trapped in a predicament covered in ice and snow, and the entire army may be annihilated, so Xiang Shaolong does not worry that they will build fortifications and hold on.
So as long as Xiang Shaolong is willing to go out of the city to fight, Pang Yuan and others will just thank God and hope to fight to the death.
Ten days later, the He Congjun advanced towards Wucheng again, slowly pouring into the vast plain of fifty miles outside Wucheng, setting up camps and tents in the mountainous areas on the edge, and forming defensive barriers with chariots.
Xiang Shaolong ordered to stop all attacks that disturb the enemy and let the enemy stand firm.
But the atmosphere of an impending war has tightened the nerves of everyone on both sides.
Three days later, all the five-nation coalition forces arrived. Xiang Shaolong and others looked on the city wall. On the surface, it seemed that the opponent's army was indeed in full strength and not tired at all.
After Huan Qi watched carefully for a while, he smiled and said: "When it comes to the quality and training of soldiers and generals, except for the Zhao army, the other four countries are far behind me. The reason why General Meng Shang suffered a defeat this time is because
After years of fighting, Pang Yuan and others have already figured out his combat methods. Therefore, it is easy to adopt various targeted measures to achieve victory."
After a pause, he continued: "General Wang Jian once said that looking at the famous generals in modern times, Bai Qi and Li Mu are the only two who never follow the established rules in battle, and they do not follow the established rules. They are unpredictable, and the others always have their marks.
It can be found. And now the king’s general should add General Xiang to this list of generals.”
Xiang Shaolong laughed and scolded: "You kid is getting better and better at flattering me."
After everyone chatted and laughed for a while, the atmosphere became more relaxed, and Teng Yi said: "Although the enemy has suffered losses, he still has a strength of 500,000, but I am not worried about this. The other side always has different intentions and it is difficult to cooperate wholeheartedly.
In addition, the weather and soil here are not conducive to the southern army such as the Chu people. We also blocked the nearby streams with sand and stones, making these tired soldiers even more miserable. Therefore, although there are 500,000 people, we can actually have 20
With a force of ten thousand, we are not far behind us. But we have a strong city to protect us, and we are not afraid of a long battle. The other party must rush their troops and try their best to buy time. The advantages and disadvantages of the situation are self-evident."
Huan Qi looked far into the distance and said: "The messenger cavalry in the enemy's formation are galloping from the center to the left and right, apparently to summon the generals and go to the central army meeting. It seems that the enemy is about to launch a large-scale attack."
Xiang Shaolong's heart moved, and he said calmly: "I think this is just a show to show us. If I were Pang Yuan, and my troops and horses were really strong, and my morale was like a rainbow, I would just pretend to be weak and lure us away.
Going out of the city to attack, and now displaying such a powerful posture, it shows that they are timid and afraid that we will attack them."
At this time, Cheng Jun already regarded Xiang Shaolong as a heavenly general. Hearing this, he agreed: "There is also a saying in soldiers: "The heroes of the soldiers and horses show that I am weak, and the order of the formation shows that I will not fight." This opinion of the general is very powerful.
See you clearly."
Huan Qi, Teng Yi and Xing Jun were moved at the same time.
Jing Jun immediately asked for orders to fight.
Xiang Shaolong was afraid that he would make a mistake, so he ordered Huan Qi to serve as an assistant.
Half an hour later, the city gates were opened wide, and each of the two men led a team of 20,000 infantry, cavalry and catapults to cross the plain and attack the enemy's position.
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi led the troops to guard the formation and cover their retreat if necessary.
The battle lasted until dusk, after several enemy camps were destroyed, and then the troops were withdrawn and returned to the city.
The next day it was the enemy's turn to send troops to challenge the enemy. The Qin army stayed behind closed doors and only responded with arrows. The enemy had no choice but to retreat.
After three days of tug-of-war with casualties, by the early morning of the fourth day, He Congjun finally lost patience and launched an all-out siege with newly built siege engines and wooden chariots.
Xiang Shaolong still stood firm and waited until the enemy was exhausted and retreated, then he came out in full force and formed the previously planned formation outside the city.
Although the He Congjun was unwilling to fight at this time, because they did not want to miss the opportunity for a battle and were even more afraid of being attacked by the Qin army, they also mobilized in full force and set up battle formations on the other side of the plain.
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi boarded a hillock of the Chinese army to observe the enemy's arrangement.
At the time of the road, the morning sun rose from Shushan. Under the sunshine, the weapons and armors of the enemy and ours shone brightly, and dots of light spread over the plains on both sides, filling the atmosphere of an imminent battle.
The strength of the He Congjun was significantly reduced, with only about 400,000 people, divided into five major formations.
The troops are mainly concentrated in the center, with infantry as the main force, chariots in the front, and cavalry in the rear, forming three formations: front, middle, and back.
The two formations on the left and right are fast cavalry.
The infantry in the center is divided into nine small formations according to the types of arms. The first three formations are shield soldiers and light infantry, and the other six formations are heavy-armed infantry attacking the main force. Each formation has 20,000 people, holding crossbows, guns, and swords.
Shields, horses, spears, halberds and other long-range defense or attack weapons. The size of each team's area and the distance between them all comply with the laws of a certain battle formation, and they are by no means a mob.
Teng Yi sighed: "Although the third brother is leading an army for the first time, he has always expected the enemy to be like a god. He avoided the enemy's main force in the center and placed heavy troops on both wings. It is indeed a clever move. Now I will take charge of Pang Yuan.
Even if he knows something is wrong, it is difficult to change the formation. What's more, he doesn't know that each of our cavalry has a thick-backed sword that is at least half as powerful as the Hundred Battle Sword, which is guaranteed to cause heavy losses to the opponent's cavalry fighting with swords on both wings."
The enemy's war drums suddenly roared into the sky, and nearly three thousand chariots gathered in the front line, closely followed by the infantry, started to advance with a shout.
The eagle king on Zhou Liang's shoulder also felt the atmosphere of fierce battle and danger, and flapped its wings and whispered.
Xiang Shaolong ordered to hold on, the drums sounded, and the messengers used flags to notify Huan Qi and Jing Jun on the two wings.
Just when they were about to enter the shooting range, three thousand tanks coming in six rows suddenly increased in force and rushed forward.
In addition to the driver and a charioteer, each chariot is also accompanied by a team of infantrymen, each with their own responsibilities.
The driver drives the chariot, and the charioteers are equipped with weapons such as bows, crossbows, spears, and halberds. When they are far away from the enemy, they use bows and crossbows. In close combat, they use spears and halberds. The chariot infantry follows closely behind the chariot and cooperates closely with the chariot.
Cover and coordinate with each other to expand lethality and defense.
Since chariot drivers and warriors do not need to walk, they all wear heavy helmets and strong armor, and are not afraid of ordinary arrows. The same goes for war horses. They do have the courage to do whatever they want on the battlefield and no one can control them. If they are allowed to rush into the formation, they will fight.
There is no hope that the formation can remain intact. If the opponent's backup continues to attack at this time, the undefeated will be rare.
For a moment, both sides were shouting and drumming, arrows were flying, and the sound of killing was loud.
The enemy's cavalry on both wings was also divided into 10,000 men each to cover the two wings of the center.
The war finally kicked off.
Xiang Shaolong waited until the opponent was completely within shooting range before ordering the stoning maneuver on the city.
From time to time, huge boulders in the sky were thrown at the enemy's charging chariots.
The man fell down from his chariot, but there were still nearly a hundred chariots rushing towards the formation.
Xiang Shaolong gave an order, and the tide of Qin troops on the front line retreated, revealing numerous deep pits where horses were trapped in the rear. The enemy vehicles, hoping to catch the Qin army, immediately overturned their vehicles and people fell into the trap, allowing the Qin army to take advantage of the situation and kill them.
Arrows rained down from the city, and the foot soldiers who lost the cover of their chariots fell to the ground one after another. Xiang Shaolong couldn't bear to see the tragic situation, but he had no choice but to do anything.
On the battlefield, if you die or I die, how can there be any place for a woman to be kind?
At this time, the enemy's cavalry arrived on both wings.
Xiang Shaolong once again raised the flag with his male hand, and the cavalry on the left and right wings rushed out, everyone holding a broadsword. The enemy cavalry wielding swords hacked them to pieces, and the enemy cavalry was defeated.
The cavalry of Zuojun have always been superior to the soldiers of the East, and now with the most powerful new weapon for attacking on horseback, they are even more unstoppable.
After Xiang Shaolong's army crushed the enemy's offensive, they began to advance. They advanced several hundred steps toward the enemy's second round of attacking chariots and infantry. They then formed a formation and used trebuchets and arrows to attack the enemy from a long distance.
attack.
At this time, the enemy's cavalry on both wings was defeated in embarrassment. The enemy's central army was afraid that it would lose the cover of its two wings and fall into the dilemma of being attacked on three sides, so it quickly retreated.
Unexpectedly, although the chariot was unstoppable when charging forward, it was not flexible in its rotation. Nearly half of the chariot collided with each other in a hasty U-turn, creating an extremely chaotic situation.
This is no wonder He Congjun, who could have predicted that the cavalry on both wings would be defeated so quickly and so miserably.
Xiang Shaolong knew the time had come and issued the order for a full-scale attack.
First, the left and right cavalry of Huan Qi and Jing Jun, each numbering 20,000, bit the tail of the enemy's defeated army and killed them from both wings. Then, 60,000 infantry on both wings followed the cavalry and advanced towards the enemy's formation from both sides.
Xiang Shaolong's central army, composed of 40,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 1,000 Wu family disciples, also began to attack the enemy's retreating central army, killing the enemy's corpses all over the field and rivers of blood. It was extremely cruel.
When the cavalry on both wings broke into the enemy's formation with thunderous momentum, the combined army immediately became panicked, and the chaos spread like a wave, affecting the entire situation.
Pang Yuan also knew that something was wrong, so he beat the drums and sounded the trumpets, and ordered the whole army to continue to advance against the enemy, but his initiative had become passive.
When the He Cong Army was barely holding back the Qin army, Xiang Shaolong and a thousand of the Wu family's disciples rushed out like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep, defeating the most powerful central army of the He Cong Army.
At this time, He Cong's army was defeated. Even if Sun Wu was resurrected and Bai Qi came back, it would be difficult to reverse the defeat. In just half an hour, the Chu army withdrew one after another. This move immediately caused He Cong's army to be divided into pieces and the formation was in chaos.
All the troops abandoned their weapons and armor and fled, unable to resist any longer.
The Qin army pursued them for more than 20 miles, killing 80,000 enemies and taking more than 20,000 prisoners prisoner.
The five kingdoms joined forces to attack Qin, and they suffered such a disastrous defeat.
Xiang Shaolong camped in the mountains that night, preparing to recuperate and pursue the enemy tomorrow in order to regain all the lost ground.
Suddenly his men came to report and captured the enemy's general.
Xiang Shaolong didn't even have time to put on his armor. When he came out of the camp, he was shocked to see Han Chuang, who was covered in blood and was dejected and escorted to the tent. When he saw Xiang Shaolong, he smiled miserably and said, "Brother Xiang, give me a good time."
.”
Xiang Shaolong was shocked and shouted: "Untie me immediately"
His subordinates all treated him with respect like a god, and upon hearing this, they immediately cut off the rope.
Xiang Shaolong had people treat Han Chuang's wounds. After everything was fine, he invited him to have a meal in the commander's tent.
Han Chuang smiled bitterly and said: "This battle between Shaolong and Shaolong will make him famous all over the world. His prestige will be as high as that of Bai Qi. I, Han Chuang, am completely convinced of his defeat."
Xiang Shaolong sighed: "Each one is his own master. There is nothing we can do in this battle. Brother Han will sleep in the road tonight and ride back to your country tomorrow morning."
Han Chuang was shocked and said: "Shaolong released the enemy general privately, and the crime may be big or small. How can I feel bad about it?"
Xiang Shaolong said sincerely: "This matter does not matter so much. I will return Brother Han's entourage to Brother Han. Brother Han must escape from Qin as soon as possible. With the current situation, we have to take advantage of the victory and pursue it."
Han Chuang was originally a person who was greedy for life and afraid of death. He was so grateful for this chance and said: "If I want to leave, why not leave tonight? Shaolong is such a good friend."
Xiang Shaolong sent away Han Chuang and nearly a thousand of his personal guards that night. In the early morning of the next day, he sent the prisoners to Qicheng while pursuing the enemy again.
Although Pang Yuan reorganized his army on the way, due to poor morale and lack of weapons and food, they were all repulsed within three days. Xiang Shaolong marched forward and recaptured Hangu Pass with the force of breaking a bamboo, crushing the Five Eastern Countries.
The dream of national unity to resist Qin.
Xiang Shaolong ordered people to rebuild the fortifications and strengthen the defense of Hangu Pass. After winter, Xiaopan sent a special envoy to Shangdan to read the edict signed by Xiaopan and Zhu Ji, and made Xiang Shaolong a general.
All other generals were promoted to the rank of deputy general. Huan Qi and Cheng Jun were promoted to generals at the same time. Teng Jing was also promoted to generals. Zhou Liang was promoted to lieutenant general. Others were rewarded according to their merits, and soldiers were awarded.
With three times the salary, everyone was very happy.
Except for Cheng Jun who stayed in Hangu, Xiang Shaolong and others were recalled to Xianyang to report on their duties.
This battle made Xiang Shaolong famous all over the world, especially above Wang Te Meng'ao, and he was ranked as the two new tiger generals of the Western Qin Dynasty along with Wang Jian.