Chapter Five Hundred and Seventy Nine: Burning Xue Yantuo
On the hillside, crossbow arrows were constantly being shot.
One by one, Xueyantuo soldiers fell to the ground after being hit by arrows.
In fact, many arrows were shot right next to them.
Such a close distance, such a powerful crossbow arrow was shot from not far behind them, leaving them no room to escape.
There was even no room to react, because they were facing away from the attack and couldn't even see the trajectory of the attack.
They could only pray that these crossbow arrows were not aimed at them.
At this time, even if the crossbow arrows were fired from beside them, they had no chance of catching the murderer.
Because they were running at full speed, it was very difficult for them to stop even under impact.
Seeing this scene, Xue Yanhong's eyes widened, even the eye sockets were opened, leaving traces of blood.
The loss is too heavy!
It was so tragic that Xue Yanhong's heart was bleeding.
Rushing up the hillside, then rushing down the hillside, they had killed and wounded fifteen or six hundred people.
And, this number is still increasing.
Fortunately, Wuming Mountain is not steep, and the length of the slope is not too long.
Xue Yantuo's soldiers finally rushed down Wuming Mountain.
The Tang Dynasty's crossbows could no longer reach them.
Now, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were gathering and rushing down the mountain quickly, preparing to hunt them down.
But in terms of speed, it will take some time for them to catch up with them.
After all, when they went down the mountain, it was like a wolf running wildly.
That speed is an extreme burst between life and death, and it is definitely an extraordinary performance.
Tang Jun definitely doesn't have the speed like them.
And their Xue Yantuo soldiers are all cavalry.
At the foot of the mountain, there are five thousand war horses.
They could quickly run to the horses, mount them, and retreat along the road.
By the way, it can also help their ambushing soldiers, cooperate inside and outside, attack from both sides, break out a bloody path, and rush out.
In this battle, although they lost six to seven thousand soldiers, it was considered a great defeat.
But they still have more than 190,000 soldiers, and their overall combat effectiveness has not suffered much loss.
This can be considered a blessing among misfortunes!
However, just when Xue Yantuo's soldiers were about to rush in front of their horses, another incident occurred.
Just outside their five thousand war horses, three thousand Tang Dynasty infantrymen suddenly appeared in the grass more than three miles away and quickly moved closer.
At this moment, Xue Yantuo's soldiers were stunned by these Datang soldiers who suddenly appeared.
It belongs to Wachot’s seventh uncle and grandma!
Where did all these people come from?
You know, the area under Wuming Mountain is a flat grassland.
At least ten miles are covered with grassland. If Tang Dynasty soldiers approached, they would be able to detect it immediately.
But now, soldiers from the Tang Dynasty actually appeared three miles away, and they were still more than 3,000 strong!
How come they never discovered this before?
However, after they saw the costumes of these Tang infantry, they finally realized.
It turned out that they were all wearing grass-green clothes.
If they lie down in the grass and remain motionless, I'm afraid they won't be discovered at all unless I walk up to them.
Even if they were sneaking quietly in the grass, they probably wouldn't be able to detect them.
The distance of three miles is really too close. It won't take long for these three thousand infantry to charge forward.
At that time, Xue Yantuo's army had just arrived in front of the war horses, and they didn't even have time to mount them.
If they were approached by Datang infantry at this time, it would be a nightmare for them.
At this time, Xue Yanhong took the opportunity and immediately ordered the 1,000 Xue Yantuo soldiers left behind to immediately detach 800 cavalry and step forward to block the approach of the Tang Dynasty infantry.
On the plains, cavalry is always the natural enemy and nemesis of infantry.
The distance of less than three miles, although a bit close, is still enough for the war horses to charge.
Eight hundred cavalry, charging down three thousand infantry, was enough to stop them, and even to severely damage or annihilate them.
Soon, eight hundred Xue Yantuo soldiers got on their horses and charged towards the Tang Dynasty infantry.
The three-mile journey took only a cup of tea before the war horses charged past.
At this time, the speed of the war horse has almost reached its peak.
It only takes one or two more breaths to reach within their shooting range.
When the time comes, the infantry of the Tang Dynasty will become their living targets.
However, what they didn't expect was that the Tang infantry started shooting one step ahead of them.
According to common sense, cavalry has the advantage of sprinting with war horses, and their range will be farther than that of cavalry.
The infantry outside the range of the cavalry, their bows and arrows, are simply impossible to reach the opposing cavalry.
However, this time, the Tang infantry used powerful crossbows.
This strong crossbow is also a strong individual crossbow launched by the Tang Dynasty in the past two years.
This crossbow, with the help of mechanical power, is not only more labor-saving, but also has a farther range than ordinary bows and arrows.
And one crossbow can be equipped with three crossbow arrows, which can complete rapid shooting.
Where archers could only shoot one arrow, they could quickly shoot three.
Of course, after shooting these three arrows, it will take some time to continue loading arrows.
But these three thousand infantrymen used staged shooting.
That is, the first row shoots first, then the second row follows, and finally the third row shoots.
After the third row finished shooting, the first row's crossbows were almost ready.
With tacit cooperation, the effect of almost non-stop shooting can be achieved.
In the blink of an eye, the first row of crossbow arrows arrived.
Xue Yantuo's cavalrymen had already taken out their shields and were ready to attack.
With shields blocking them, they can minimize casualties.
However, the targets that the Tang Dynasty infantry aimed at were not people at all, but the war horses under their crotches.
They are not heavy cavalry or light cavalry, even the horses have armor.
Their war horses had no protection at all.
Therefore, a large number of war horses fell to the ground with arrows.
But now, the war horse's running speed has almost reached top speed.
At this speed, if the war horse falls to the ground, the cavalry on it will be thrown away.
Under such momentum, he fell to the ground dead or disabled.
After falling to the ground, he would have to face the trampling of other war horses, and there was basically no chance of survival.
The fallen horse will also have a certain impact on the formation of the cavalry.
There were even horses that were following too close and had no time to change direction and bumped into the fallen horses, which then fell to the ground.
Moreover, the shooting speed of the bows and arrows of the Tang Dynasty on the opposite side was too fast and too dense.
Each time a row of a thousand soldiers fires, each person shoots three crossbow arrows, which is three thousand crossbow arrows at a time.
After three rounds, there are nine thousand crossbow arrows.
Under such terrifying and intensive shooting, I am afraid that by the time they get close to the opponent's infantry, all of their eight hundred cavalry will be basically dead.
In just this moment, two to three hundred Xue Yantuo cavalry were shot down.
And this number is still increasing rapidly.
This cavalry was directly defeated.
Without anyone's orders, the remaining cavalry turned around desperately.
It was too late to turn the horses' heads, so they quickly fled sideways.
Three thousand infantrymen of the Tang Dynasty quickly approached. Their target was Xue Yantuo's remaining war horses, and they had no intention or thought of pursuing the fleeing cavalry.
Of course, if someone is riding a horse, he cannot catch up even if he wants to.
The three-mile journey is here in an instant.
At the same time, Xue Yantuo's three thousand surviving soldiers also approached their horses.
They had to race against time, trying to get to the war horses before the infantry of the Tang Dynasty and mount them quickly.
Next, whether they fight or retreat, they will all fall into their rhythm.
But at this moment, three thousand Tang Dynasty infantrymen came up with crossbows again, ready to start shooting.
This distance is still a little further.
Based on the range of their crossbows, the war horses were still beyond their range.
Huh?
What on earth are these Tang infantry going to do?
Soon, they got their answer.
Because at this time, the front end of the Tang Dynasty infantry's crossbow burst into flames and burned fiercely.
Rocket!
It's a rocket!
Whoosh!
Whizzing!
Rockets shot out of the sky one after another, making a shrill sound in mid-air.
Like pops of pops piercing the sky, they fell on the grass in front of Xue Yantuo's horse.
The fire light frightened the war horses, and they snorted one after another. The horses' hooves raised uneasily and trampled on the grass.
Fortunately, these are well-trained war horses.
Although they were frightened, they did not receive any orders from the cavalry, so they stayed where they were.
If it were an ordinary war horse, it would have been scared away by the fire.
Xue Yanhong, who had already approached the war horse, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
so far so good!
Fortunately, Datang's infantry was still a little behind.
Otherwise, if these rockets hit the war horses, the horses will be frightened and run away, and the consequences will be disastrous.
But the next moment, Xue Yanhong discovered in horror.
The rocket fell to the grass and did not go out.
Instead, it quickly ignited the grass and burst into flames.
This, how is this possible?
This is green grass!
Although grass will dry out and burn when exposed to heat.
But how could these rockets ignite the grass in such a short period of time?
How could the burning speed be so fast?
This, this is not scientific!
The speed at which the fire spread completely exceeded Xue Yanhong's expectations.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the flames spread rapidly and burned the nearest horses.
hiss!
The law!
The war horse was instantly burned, its hair burned, and it transformed into a horse of fire.
In pain, the fire horse flew away.
The speed at which the flames spread exceeded the imagination of all Xue Yantuo's soldiers.
In just a few breaths, the flames had spread to the entire area.
Almost no one of the more than 4,000 war horses was spared, and all of them were transformed into fire horses.
Most of the war horses were directly burned to death.
There were also a few who screamed in pain and jumped in circles to escape.
Even some of Xue Yantuo's soldiers were burned by the fire.
The remaining Xue Yantuo soldiers fled one after another in a direction where there was no fire.
And that direction is exactly facing Wuming Mountain...
Some fire horses even panicked and fled towards the formation of Xue Yantuo's soldiers.
Along the way, countless Xue Yantuo soldiers were knocked over and burned by the flames on the fire horses.
Fortunately, these fire horses did not hold on for too long before they collapsed to the ground.
But what made Xue Yanhong secretly complain was that just opposite them, the three thousand Tang troops who had just come down from the Wuming Mountain were already preparing their crossbows.
After they ran into their shooting range in a panic, they were greeted by a sky full of arrows.
The unsuspecting Xue Yantuo soldiers were shot down again.
Behind them, the same three thousand Tang Dynasty infantrymen were bypassing the fire zone and quickly besieged them.
At this time, Xue Yanhong, the general on Xue Yantuo's side, had a miserable look on his face.
He had to lead the defeated soldiers with only more than 2,000 remaining generals to flee towards the south.
Behind him, six thousand Tang troops were in hot pursuit.
In front, more than two thousand Xue Yantuo soldiers who had abandoned their helmets and armor could be described as running like wolves.
Under the threat of death, Xue Yantuo's soldiers once again unleashed their potential, and each one of them ran faster than a rabbit.
The Tang army chasing behind them, instead of closing the distance, were pulled away by Xue Yantuo's soldiers.
According to this attitude, they have no hope of escape!
Just when the fire of hope in Xue Yanhong's heart had just been ignited, she discovered that there was a dark mass of Tang cavalry in front of her, roaring towards her.
It turned out that at this time, the 20,000 cavalry led by Cheng Yaojin had already cleared the roadblocks and charged over.
There is no need to even think about the consequences of 20,000 cavalry against 2,000 cavalry who have lost their horses. There is no way to survive at all!
Xue Yantuo's soldiers had no fighting spirit and threw away their weapons one after another.
More than two thousand Xue Yantuo soldiers were all captured by the Tang Dynasty.
At this time, Cheng Yaojin's 30,000 infantrymen also followed.
Cheng Yaojin ordered 10,000 infantrymen to stay to put out the fire and clean the battlefield, and then escorted all the more than 2,000 prisoners back.
Cheng Yaojin, on the other hand, led 20,000 cavalry and quickly pursued them to the outside.
Although he had just won a big victory, there was not much joy on Cheng Yaojin's face.
Of these 10,000 Xueyantuo soldiers and their 20,000 cavalry, they only annihilated and captured 7,000 of their opponents.
And the other 6,000 infantrymen actually killed the opponent's nearly 3,000 cavalry.
If you tell me, it will be embarrassing and embarrassing!
Their majestic cavalry was actually outclassed by the infantry.
If we can't continue to expand our results, we will be embarrassed to see others in the future.
Is he, Old Cheng, so shameless?
The job of putting out a fire is actually very simple.
Because beforehand, Li Min had already calculated all of Xue Yantuo's reactions.
Therefore, special white phosphorus had been sprinkled on the area where Xue Yantuo left his war horses.
White phosphorus has a very low ignition point and may burn at room temperature.
If you encounter an open flame, it will definitely catch fire.
Of course, these white phosphorus are specially made and will not burn at room temperature.
Of course, to be on the safe side, they didn't just sprinkle special white phosphorus on this area beforehand.
Instead, white phosphorus was sprayed on no fewer than ten areas.
No matter where they choose, they can't escape being burned in the end.
The fire burns so quickly under the influence of white phosphorus.
That's why the fire is so strong.
But in areas without white phosphorus, the fire was gradually contained.
After all, these are just green grass, and the flame must first dry the grass before it can continue to burn.
With the efforts of thousands of soldiers, the flames were quickly extinguished.
…
The battlefield on the other side is also entering a fierce moment.
On this battlefield, the main force on Xue Yantuo's side was Xue Yanshou.
When the green smoke rose in the direction of Wuming Mountain, Xue Yanshou couldn't help but be overjoyed.
The strategist's plan was successful, and everything was within the strategist's plan!
Xue Yanshou quickly organized an army of 90,000 troops and quickly marched towards Wuming Mountain.
In Xue Yanshou's view, Datang must have put all its main forces on the frontal battlefield.
It is unknown whether there are 90,000 Tang troops in this area.
Even if there are 90,000 people, there will be no resistance in the face of their surprise attack.
After all, there is a huge gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides.
The Tang army would never be a match for their Xue Yantuo soldiers.
This area is all grassland and the terrain is very flat, so there is no need to worry about an ambush from the other side.
All you need to do is go to the small mountain range in front and send out scouts to detect it.
If there were to be an ambush, there would only be an ambush in that place.
At this moment, roars suddenly sounded in front and behind them.
Sure enough, 20,000 Tang Dynasty cavalry rushed out from the direction of the mountains in front.
From behind them, 20,000 Tang cavalry also came out.
Faced with this situation, Xue Yanshou not only did not feel nervous or afraid at all, but actually burst into laughter.
The Tang Dynasty is really vulnerable. Their commander is definitely a fool, and he makes frequent mistakes.
The mountain range ahead is a good place for an ambush.
Although he has seen through it, at least it occupies a certain advantage.
You said you could just ambush me somewhere, right?
Now he actually gave up the advantageous location and chose to rush over.
However, the 20,000 Tang cavalry behind them were somewhat beyond Xue Yanshou's expectations.
But a mere 20,000 cavalrymen, facing them, aren't they just delivering food?
Now, they, Xue Yantuo, want to fight but cannot win.
Even Xue Yanshou was not too worried that the Tang Dynasty would concentrate all its forces to besiege him.
Because even if a hundred thousand people came from the Tang Dynasty, he would not be afraid at all.
Datang's combat effectiveness was far inferior to theirs.
If they gathered 200,000 people, hum!
Their main army, Xue Yantuo, is not a vegetarian either.
On the other hand, it can quickly break through the Tang army's defense and kill them quickly.
No matter what the situation was, the Tang army was bound to be defeated.
However, under this situation, Xue Yanshou was still extremely cautious.
Although he despised the Tang army in his heart, Xue Yanshou was not careless in the slightest.
Xue Yanshou immediately stopped the entire army and quickly changed their formations, preparing to meet the 40,000 cavalry from both sides of the Tang Dynasty at the same time.
Xue Yanshou actually has another choice.
Because his military strength was twice that of his opponent, Xue Yanshou could choose to take the initiative.
However, Xue Yanshou was still afraid that the Tang army might have some conspiracy or an ambush, so he did not do that.
Instead, he decided to let the Tang army in directly and fight them on this plain.
By then, even if other reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty arrive, the initiative of choice will still be in their hands.
Closer, closer!
The Tang cavalry on both sides did not attack with all their strength, but maintained a certain speed.
The two sides were calculating time and distance, and approached Xue Yantuo's army almost at the same time.
At this time, the distance between the two sides had reached three miles.
This is already a very dangerous distance.
Under the cavalry's charge, this distance was reached in an instant.
Xue Yanshou was already preparing to issue an order to attack.
However, at this moment, Qin Qiong was holding something that looked like a remote control in his hand.
There are more than twenty buttons on this thing, and each button has a number on it.
Qin Qiong selected the button numbered 1 and pressed it decisively.
After pressing the button, Qin Qiong looked nervously in the direction of Xue Yantuo's army.
Although the King of Shu repeatedly assured that this button would definitely work, Qin Qiong still didn't quite believe it.
After all, this kind of thing is so unbelievable that Qin Qiong can't believe it.
If this arrangement fails, they will have a tough battle next.
Xue Yantuo's 200,000 troops were all cavalry.
Because horses are born on their grasslands, they grew up on horses.
All the war horses are produced by themselves.
The 90,000 Xue Yantuo army in front of them are all cavalry.
And what about them?
Although he and Yuchi Gong had an army of 100,000, they only had 40,000 cavalry, and the rest were infantry.
Forty thousand versus ninety thousand, this is a tough battle!
If one thing is not done well, there may be heavy losses.
Whether you succeed or not depends on you now!
The next moment, almost in the middle of Xue Yantuo's army, sparks suddenly appeared.
This spark quickly ignited in a large area in the center of their army.
hiss!
The law!
The war horses in that large area soon turned into fire horses.
Under the pain, the war horse rushed forward wildly.
The knights on their horses fell off their horses in panic.
And below, it turned into a sea of fire.
If you fall in, there is no chance of survival.
This time, in order to prepare for the battle, Xue Yantuo's cavalry kept the distance between them wide.
The area where the fire broke out was not that big for the knight.
There were no more than a thousand war horses on the left and right, and the area was on fire.
But the terrible thing is that this area is almost in the middle of the battlefield.
And those fire horses, with their bodies on fire, were running around and completely disrupting their formation in an instant!
Moreover, the fire in the middle is still spreading.
Although the spread was much slower, the war horses were frightened and fled one after another.
In just a few moments, Xue Yantuo's formation turned into a mess.
Qin Qiong and Yu Chigong, who were in front and behind, saw this scene, their eyes lit up and they suddenly became excited.
They are all experienced veterans, how could they let go of such an opportunity?
"kill!"
The two decisively gave the order to attack.
Forty thousand cavalrymen of the Tang Dynasty, one after another, quickly attacked Xue Yantuo's cavalry.
The journey of three miles can be said to be fleeting.
In just a moment, they rushed within shooting range.
The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty had already prepared their crossbows. At this time, all of them fired.
Arrows all over the sky were like raindrops, densely shooting at Xue Yantuo's cavalry.
At this time, Xue Yantuo's formation was still in chaos. Even Xue Yanshou was avoiding the fire, and there was no one to direct him.
Fortunately, Xue Yanshou was at the rear of the Chinese army and not in the middle.
Otherwise, he would have been burned to death by now.
