With the sound of golden drums, the cavalry troops stepped through the thick river ice and crossed the Anfeng Canal. However, after entering the starting position, they did not stop to adjust their formation. Instead, they raised their whips more desperately to whip the horses under their crotches, stimulating them.
The war horse neighed and screamed, and suddenly increased its speed further, like a huge surging wave, rushing towards the Tangyi soldiers' defense line.
Hundreds of horses' hooves trampled, like thunder rolling against the earth, and soon covered up the sound of the golden drums in the army.
The shouts of the generals filled with bloody courage echoed across the sky and the earth, the sharp blades waved cold light in the air, and the war spears clamped under the armpits were like poisonous snakes spitting out scarlet letters.
Seeing that the front line of Tangyi soldiers were all wearing armor and holding large shields, standing motionless like rocks, most of the Shouzhou cavalry did not take out their bows.
When attacking from the flank, the cavalry bow can exert its maximum effect, but at this time, even if it is fired against the strong crossbows in the hands of Tangyi soldiers and generals, which are slightly stronger than the infantry bows, they will suffer a big loss.
However, although it is said that cavalry should be deployed on the flanks for outflanking attacks, in the end it must be adjusted according to the actual situation on the battlefield.
Their current combat mission is to tear apart the Tangyi defense formation on the right front in one go; to keep the Anfeng Canal intact, even if they have to pay a heavy price.
More people even put away their swords and halberds, tied them back to their waists or hung them back on their saddles. They put their feet firmly on the horse stirrups, arched their bodies on the horseback, and protected their faces with one hand, blocking the enemies like locusts.
The arrows flew towards me, regardless of how many arrows hit my armor, or whether people kept falling off their horses around me, so I made the final preparations before the impact.
What made them even more unhappy at this time was that the distance between them was only fifty or sixty steps, and the fog seemed to be heavier. The clouds of fog were rolling in the low-lying areas, making it difficult for them to clearly see the situation in the Tangyi soldiers' array.
, which hinders their subsequent tactical adjustments.
They also didn't understand why the Tangyi soldiers formed a formation in the low-lying area. They speculated that it might be to block the connection between Anfengzhai and Quxi, but this terrain was undoubtedly more conducive for them to rush over at a faster speed.
When the distance got closer, the Tangyi soldiers started to move. The several rows of generals at the front of each array were now grouped together more closely, with large shields like fish scales.
When stacked on top of each other, thirty or forty lane-like gaps were formed in the middle of the array, allowing the crossbows hidden in the array to reveal their ferocious fangs in front of the enemy array.
It was just that the fog was too heavy, and even though the distance was only sixty or seventy steps in the afternoon, the Shouzhou cavalry at the front did not notice anything unusual at this time.
With a "Zhengran" sound, I don't know which bed crossbow was launched first, as if a strange wind was blowing between the sky and the earth.
The effective range of the bed crossbow may be twice as far as the arm crossbow, but its lethality is completely incomparable.
The special flat fusiform arrow clusters for the crossbows made in Xuzhou, even if there is a certain probability that they can penetrate the armor plate from the front at close range, they will not be able to penetrate deeply, and more arrows will still be blocked by the armor plate.
.
The more than 200 armored cavalry at the front of the Shouzhou cavalry were charging with hundreds of crossbow arrows. There were at most twenty or thirty crossbow arrows inserted into the gaps between the armors and plates of the soldiers and horses.
But at this time, there were only about ten people who fell from the horse.
At this time, the heavy cavalry in the front and the light cavalry behind them all raised their dismounted horses to a rather terrifying impact speed.
A heavily armored cavalry, including man, horse and armor, weighs more than a thousand kilograms. It attacks at high speed. If the horse is not taken care of at all, let alone an ordinary large shield, even a chariot weighing more than three or four thousand pounds filled with sand and stone will be overwhelmed.
can be knocked over, thereby providing a source of support for the future
Continuous light cavalry opened the gap to attack in depth, pulling the troops of both sides into a chaotic bloody battle.
In a melee where both sides are equally equal, the cavalry, which is condescending and slashes left and right, always has an advantage over the infantry.
However, the Tangyi soldiers arranged a total of ninety light chariots in the three arrays on the front, with more than ninety crossbows mounted on them. Each crossbow arrow was like a long arrow with a sharp tip that shone with a deadly cold light.
A spear, at a close range of sixty or seventy steps, can directly penetrate a horse wearing heavy armor, not to mention the armor.
The people were shot first at the horses, and the crossbows were also aimed at the horses, which were much larger than the people. Almost instantly, the forty or fifty horses were made to neigh in pain and roll to the ground.
The greatest role played by the Fangzi Crossbow Formation at this time was not to shoot down forty or fifty war horses at the same time.
The reloading speed of the bed crossbow is slow, and it can hit the sky with just one volley within the distance of a charge.
However, at the same time, they shot down the forty or fifty war horses at the front, and many more escaped from the target, hitting the enemy formation randomly or hitting the frozen soil that was as hard as rocks and splashed from the frozen soil. The enemy was charging at full speed.
The stagnation effect of the military cavalry formation is unimaginable.
By organizing more crossbows, it may be possible to shoot down forty or fifty people during the enemy cavalry charge. However, in this gradual process, even if some people continue to fall off their horses, the disturbance to the entire enemy cavalry formation will be very limited.
.
Ninety beds of arrows were fired at the same time, immediately causing the more than forty heavy armored cavalry at the front to fall to pieces.
The damage caused by a crossbow to a war horse is completely different from that of an ordinary crossbow. An ordinary horse may eventually bleed to death after being shot by a crossbow arrow, but the fear to the horse itself is not that great. A well-trained war horse will be under the control of the cavalry.
Under control, they could continue to rush forward, but the sternum of the horses shot by Fangzi's crossbow was broken, the flanks were shot through, and blood holes burst out. A very few died on the spot, and more horses fell.
The people behind the ground screamed and struggled, or stood up frantically and fled in all directions...
The entire charging cavalry formation did not notice any abnormality before being hit by the crossbows, so there was no preparation for buffering in advance. The cavalry behind them could not control their horse speed and rushed into them one after another. The entire cavalry formation fell into chaos almost instantly.
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Countless people were thrown off their horses, trampled and crushed brutally, unable to escape from each other.
The light cavalry further behind were in a panic and were forced to disperse to the two wings. However, without the protection of heavy armor, their formation was scattered and their speed was suppressed. They panicked and fired at the denser crossbows. Their troops were like crops after autumn.
They fell to the ground one after another...
"Blast the drum and attack!" Han Qian stared gloomily at the movement in front of the battlefield and ordered.
The enemy's momentum was destroyed by their blows, and the entire forward cavalry array would inevitably fall into chaos.
According to the prepared battle plan, except for the two battalions of infantry on the left who continued to stare at the defenders of Anfeng Village, the first battalion of infantry served as a reserve team, and the other three battalions of infantry should advance to the east bank of Anfeng Canal as soon as possible.
If the enemy's formation becomes further chaotic, the two battalions of cavalry must decisively attack from both wings to maximize the damage, defeat the enemy, and expand the results of the battle.
Covered by clouds of mist, Xu Mingzhen didn't know why the front line suddenly fell into such chaos at first. It was too chaotic at first. It was too late for the forward cavalry to avoid the rain of arrows. Naturally, no one rushed over to report it to the front line at the first time.
array situation.
Xu Mingzhen thought that the Tangyi soldiers had set some trap in front of the formation. He ordered the cavalry on the east bank to withdraw one after another, but he also evacuated as much as possible to the west bank to regroup, waiting to see hundreds of Tangyi soldiers' infantry coming from
When he fought his way out of the low-lying area and pushed into the east bank of Anfeng Canal, he almost groaned - looking at the formation of Tangyi soldiers with trembling fear.
Hundreds of chariots were led by military horses and moved forward slowly and persistently. A crossbow squatted on top of the chariot like a ferocious beast.
At this time, the bed crossbow no longer fires in volley, but the fully loaded one moves forward and fires at a faster speed.
The Shouzhou Army on the east coast could not organize a decent counterattack, nor could they form a defensive formation on the spot. They could only be forced to retreat by the Tangyi soldiers. The reason why they could not flee immediately was because of the elite and brave Shouzhou Army.
Abnormal: Zhao Wuji and Han Donghu also led their cavalry at this time to outflank the enemy, slowly approaching, using bows and crossbows to fire, compressing as much as possible from both wings, and attacking the enemy.
The troops and horses that were immediately led by Xu Mingzhen to reinforce Anfeng Village were definitely the best among the elite of the Shouzhou Army. They were definitely better than other Shouzhou Army in terms of the eliteness of the generals and the sophisticated armor and equipment.
of.
Xu Mingzhen learned two days ago that Tangyi troops were divided into several groups to penetrate Chaozhou's defense line. He assembled the first batch of reinforcements in two days and traveled 1,780 miles in severe cold weather.
After half a day's delay, he went directly to the outskirts of Anfeng Village, and his reaction speed can be said to be extremely fast.
However, the problem is that the more than 6,000 troops and horses gathered on both sides of Anfeng Village were dispatched so quickly. They really did not carry bulky large and medium-sized weapons such as bed crossbows, let alone the ability to temporarily assemble anti-impact walls to suppress the opponent's impact.
The chariot.
Even though the post road and Chi Road to the north of Anfeng Village were under their control, they could not confirm at the first time that the target of the Tangyi soldiers' raid must be Anfeng Village. Furthermore, they believed that the Tangyi soldiers must be light chariots.
Yes, they also ensured the mobility of the cavalry troops and did not bring chariots.
The more than 6,000 generals of the Shouzhou Army only carried three days' rations and even carried a serious shortage of arrows. The advantages and disadvantages of both sides in terms of armor and weapons became even more obvious.
And because the farming around Anfeng Village is relatively developed, there are flat farmlands on both sides of the Anfeng Canal, which provides great convenience for Tangyi soldiers to attack with chariots.
Under such circumstances, no matter how elite and brave the generals of the Shouzhou Army were, they would not be able to stabilize their positions on both sides of the Anfeng Canal.
When they saw that one of the Tangyi soldiers' vanguard had successfully crossed the Anfeng Canal, a dozen chariots armed with crossbows and scorpion crossbows entered the west bank, while more tanks gathered two beds on both sides of the east bank of the Anfeng Canal.
In the crossbow formation, seeing rivers of blood flowing everywhere, countless brave soldiers sacrificing themselves in vain, Xu Mingzhen's copper-bell-sized pupils were filled with bloodshot eyes. At this time, she could only choose to cut off the strong men's wrists in pain, and ordered the remaining soldiers to go to Gao in the northwest.
The city retreated.
In addition to ordering Zhao Wuji and Han Donghu to continue to lead the cavalry to pursue the enemy in succession and expand the results of the battle, Han Qian gathered the infantry, and some of them rested on both sides of the Anfeng Canal, while the other troops launched an offensive against Anfeng Village at dusk.
Before it gets dark, there is a pale crescent moon hanging in the sky, which means that tonight will be a clear night.
A chariot was pushed to the front of the array, and tung oil was poured into pits dug in the middle of the array to burn.
It did not carry heavy siege equipment such as the cyclone cannon. After all, the cyclone cannon was dismantled and had too many gun tips about five or six feet long, which was not conducive to rapid long-distance transportation.
However, for Anfeng Village, which was only surrounded by a three-foot-thick rammed earth wall, there was no need for heavy cyclone cannons, and there was no need for soldiers to brave arrows and sprayed kerosene to push rams against the wall.
More than thirty crossbows were concentrated in the front, and with each wave of fire, they tore countless holes in the thin protective wall, and soon a gap of more than ten feet wide was torn into pieces.
Either they have witnessed the tragic situation in which the main reinforcements were beaten and fled in panic, or they have witnessed the continuous firing of crossbows and the continuous throwing of kerosene bombs from the scorpion cannon. The soldiers and civilians in the village did not dare to rush forward forcefully, and could only watch the gap expand little by little.