When Li Kan was lamenting that today's battle was finally over, a soldier suddenly came to report, "General, the enemy is stacking firewood in front of the camp wall!"
"What?" Li Kan asked in surprise: "Is it also going to set a fire?"
As soon as he finished speaking, fires shot up into the sky at the edge of the camp fifty steps away. The kerosene produced near Gaonu could be said to have shortcomings when used as lamp oil, but when used to set fires, it was perfect.
Unfavorable. The Han army first used bows and crossbows to cover, and then the infantry took the opportunity to rush forward and piled bundles of firewood beside the camp wall and at the gate of the camp. Then they poured the kerosene in the barrels and threw the kindling on top.
, the flames got out of control.
When Li Kan saw the fire ahead, he shouted: "What are you still doing? Hurry up and put out the fire with a bucket!"
The camp has a lot of drinking water for people and horses, which can be used for emergencies at this time. Except for the sergeants trapped in the camp who did not move, there were idle people nearby who went to fetch water with wooden basins and buckets. But it didn't work.
After a while, someone with his hair and eyebrows scorched came over and shouted: "The enemy has used a magic trick. Pouring water on it is useless, the fire has become even bigger!"
Li Kan said angrily: "Nonsense! How could such a thing happen?"
The visitor's face was smoky and he shouted: "Yes or no, the general will know at a glance!"
Li Kan grabbed a bucket with his hand, rushed up to the camp wall, endured the heat of the flames, and poured the water down. When the water splashed down, the flames did not go out, but instead rushed up. Li Kan was stunned for a moment.
Then he suddenly realized and shouted: "This is kerosene!"
After just standing on the camp wall for a short while, he felt that the armor on his body began to get hot. He quickly ran down and shouted: "Ming Jin, tell everyone on the camp wall to get off!"
There is no need for him to say that the people in front could not stand the fire and had already retreated in embarrassment. No matter how good the equipment is, no matter how elite the soldiers are, in the face of the raging fire, there is only one option: retreat. No.
Their will is not strong enough, really... well, let's just pretend that their will is not strong enough.
The flames first dried out the wood on the side, and then when the sparks burned, the wood became a new source of fire. Looking at the camp wall that began to collapse in the flames, Li Kan's face became very ugly. He knew that fire
The oil production is not large, so it cannot be used as a conventional weapon, but it does not need to be used frequently. Once it is used, it will be unbearable.
He participated in the civil war between the Xiliang princes, participated in the war with the Huns, and also fought against the Han army. However, those opponents were not as good as the enemies he encountered today. The soldiers were brave and the officers were cunning. Li Kan even admired him a little.
When the enemy comes, the trapped camp and the Flying Bear Cavalry will only be more brave and skilled than the enemy, but the number is really too small!
"boom!"
In the light of the fire, the tall watchtower collapsed, and hundreds of kilograms of wood fell to the ground, sputtering out large sparks. This scenery was beautiful and charming, but it only made Li Kan feel dangerous. He was half in admiration, half in admiration.
He said with hatred: "Huangfu Song... is such a terrible enemy!"
If he hadn't led the trapped camp to suppress the formation, the soldiers and horses in the camp would have collapsed because they couldn't bear such heavy casualties.
After the golden sound sounded, everyone in the camp gave up their futile fire-fighting operations, and the wounded soldiers in the tents and barracks also walked out, silently watching Zhu Rong show off his presence wantonly with the people outside.
The people inside were in a daze, and the Han troops outside were also stunned. They didn't expect that the effect of kerosene was so good. They originally wanted to rush in while the fire started, but when the fire started, both the jade and the stone were destroyed, whether it was the Han army or the enemy.
The Liangzhou army treats everyone equally. Anyone who dares to get close will have their flesh burnt by the roasting.
The effect of setting fire was so good that the Han army did not dare to step forward, but was forced back dozens of steps. The flames were blazing and crackling, and from time to time, thick logs were burned and fell from the camp wall.
The rammed earth inside was baked extremely dry, broke into pieces, and was thrown into the fire.
The strange smell of meat emanated from the entrance of the camp, but it made both sides facing each other across the wall of fire feel nauseous. Amidst the dull sound, shadows swayed on the burning pile of corpses from time to time, as if they were someone.
It was like sitting up in the flames.
When Chen Cheng arrived near the Liuchuan Plateau with more than 700 riders, he saw that his camp was also burned red, and the smell of barbecue came from far away. This reminded him of the time he had spent in
I saw a scene on the Nangong City Wall. At that time, the Northern Army infantry battalion was attacking the imperial road. It set a fire and burned hundreds of people to death.
At that time, there were also many corpses piled up and turned into torches. But the smell was not so strong at that time. How many people were burned?
Hearing the sound of gold ringing in the camp, the Qiang cavalry who had lost eight miles and the Huns cavalry who had gone to Bei also withdrew and gathered around Chen Cheng. When these people saw the flames outside the camp, they felt a little uneasy.
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In the camp, Li Kan said helplessly: "Okay, now we can send a signal to Yang Shangshu's cavalry."
The dull sound of the horn sounded in the rear, and the cavalry who had been waiting for a long time turned out from behind the Changpo Plain and launched an assault towards the Han army's vehicle formation in front of the plateau. There were only six or seven hundred Han troops in front of the plateau, and many people were assigned to operate the crossbows.
, or climbing up, no one was prepared for the cavalry assault. Yang Qiu led the cavalry to attack back and forth, and soon suffered heavy casualties. The remaining people abandoned the wounded and the chariot, seized the horses, and fled back.
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Although Chen Cheng was a little sentimental, after the horn sounded, he still took Liang Xing to wait for the generals and launched a charge against the Han army in front of the camp. The Han army, whose formation was broken, gave up the struggle after a little resistance.
He turned around and ran towards the two infantry phalanxes that were still fully organized.
It was getting dark now. Chen Cheng looked at the slowly retreating enemy formations, sighed, and said: "How can we stop the invasion..."
He didn't want to fight this battle. The subordinates he had trained so hard were originally used as seeds. After the battle, he didn't know how many casualties there would be. But when the enemy came to attack, he couldn't just wait for the kill, right? He sighed again.
With a sound, he shook his head and said to himself: "I don't know if Gou is out of the mountain now."
The Xun family is a great official in Yingchuan. The Eight Dragons of the Xun family are famous all over the world. This generation of the Xun family is also full of talents.
The reason was once pronounced as "Gou or" by people who could only read half of the alphabet. Chen Cheng was in a bad mood now, so he just told some cold jokes to make fun of it.
He was just in a bad mood, but Huangfu Song felt that his heart was about to bleed. Huangfu Yizhen had dealt with the Xiliang Army and knew the Xiliang Army's combat effectiveness and habits very well. This morning, he thought that
A complete victory can be achieved if the army presses forward. Even if there are some casualties, it is acceptable. But who knew that it would be completely different in a fight. The soldiers and horses of Chen Cheng are completely different from the soldiers and horses of Han Sui, Ma Teng and others!
You good Xiliang bandits, just play with your cavalry. Why do you build the camp so strong?
When a large army is deployed, it is always easy to advance but difficult to retreat. Now that the troops have deployed, even if they find that the enemy in front is difficult to deal with, they can only continue to fight to see if they can make a comeback. Fighting desperately may result in heavy casualties.
If the troops withdraw, their morale will plummet, and if they are defeated because of this, the losses will only be greater.
Besides, Huangfu Song had other considerations, so even though the battle ahead was very difficult, he still strengthened his determination and kept fighting. But when he heard the long list of dead generals and captains, and heard that four or five soldiers had been lost,
After a thousand people, he still felt pain in his heart.
These soldiers are all elites who have been trained for a long time, and it is not easy to replenish them. In addition, the current lack of funds from the imperial court and the intermittent military pay make it difficult to maintain this army, let alone train new troops.
When the enemy's camp was finally burned down and a gap was created, the sun had already set. Not only was the Xiliang army not defeated, but they were killed from both wings. Huangfu Song knew that if he withdrew now, he would give the enemy some breathing space.
There was no chance, but... He looked at Ding Yuan's troops in the distance on the left, sighed secretly in his heart, and then said to the soldiers on the side: "Send the order and withdraw the troops with gold!"
The gong sounded from the central army, and the cavalry moved forward to cover the infantry's slow retreat.
Chen Cheng used his strong bow to kill more than 20 retreating Han troops in front of the formation, and was also hit by two more arrows. Seeing the Han army's armored cavalry rushing over, he had no intention of continuing to consume each other, so he strangled
He stopped his horse and watched the Han army leave at first slowly and then quickly. He stopped the pursuit, and the Han cavalry did not step forward to challenge, but withdrew along with the infantry.
Because the Han army retreated on its own initiative, the situation this time was just the opposite of yesterday. It was the Xiliang army that controlled the battlefield, so they were able to calmly treat their own wounded, and also carried the Han army's wounded back to the camp.
The right army ordered gold to retreat, but the left army could not fight anymore. The 700 heavy infantrymen of Gao Shun's tribe were indeed well-trained and had superior combat power. However, they broke through four camps in succession, killed thousands of infantry and cavalry, and
After turning everything they passed into a sea of fire, they were a little unable to fight. Fierce fighting was very taxing on physical strength and will. Wearing heavy armor and constantly moving and fighting on the chaotic battlefield was even more taxing.
consumption of physical energy.
After those Qiang cavalry were driven out of the camp, their combat effectiveness became stronger. Ding Yuan's army and Han Sui's army had fought against each other several times, and they knew each other well. When they fought this time, they were both surprised by the improvement in each other's combat effectiveness.
Han Sui used longer cavalry weapons, the armor rate increased a bit, and there were a lot more equipment such as the Huanshou Dao. The war horses of Ding Yuan's army also had updated equipment, and the cavalry was more powerful than before.
The two sides fought. First, Han Sui's army gained the upper hand, and then Ding Yuan's army burned down Han Sui's camp. As a result, more Qiang cavalry rushed out. The two sides had been fighting for a whole day, and they were both extremely exhausted. At this time
When he heard the sound of gold, he stopped his troops and made a truce.
Huangfu Song led his troops to retreat to the vicinity of the mountain ridge. Ding Yuan had already led his men to build several temporary camps. The army entered to rest. Huangfu Song said to Ding Yuan: "I am ashamed, but I have been defeated for a while today."
Ding Yuan smiled and said: "Don't worry, victory or defeat means nothing at the moment. The thieves will panic tomorrow. Besides, we have broken through so many camps today. We can only say that we have not done our best, and we cannot say that we have lost."
