Han Gang led more than 20,000 cavalry in the first echelon. This was Han Gang's habit. He was used to charging ahead. Of course, it was also to better observe the enemy's situation. After traveling for nearly twenty miles, there was no sign of any accident. Han Gang was accustomed to charging ahead.
The newly tense nerves also relaxed a lot. When the sun went up two poles, the road ahead narrowed, and the official road, which was about ten feet wide, could only accommodate a few cavalry in parallel, and the speed of the entire cavalry team also slowed down.
But after passing the narrowest point, the eyes suddenly become wider. The official road in front is seven or eight feet wide, with gentle hillsides on both sides. There are several continuous small hills in the east and west directions. The entire terrain is like a wide corridor.
Generally speaking, the hillsides are covered with lush trees, the gentle slopes are covered with green grass, and the ground is covered with small flowers of various colors. For some reason, the grass is mottled, and some of the turf seems to have been trampled by others, scattered in the grass.
There is a lot of dirt and gravel.
Han Gang didn't notice the strangeness of the turf on these hillside. He was just a little wary of this terrain. As generals who have led the army for many years, they are very sensitive to this kind of terrain with high sides and low in the middle. Because this kind of terrain always gives people people
It brings a sense of danger. As a leader, what you fear most are terrains like corridors and canyons, because they are the most dangerous terrains.
"Stop!" Han Gang reined in his horse and stood still, and the cavalry behind him also stopped. "Wait for news from the front," Han Gang said.
Ahead, hundreds of cavalry were riding towards the official road exit on the north side of the open space. They were pathfinders to detect whether there was any unusual situation. Han Gang maintained due vigilance, although his marshal told him
There is no need to worry about this, but Han Gang disagrees.
Hundreds of cavalrymen drove away and disappeared on the official road at the north exit. Han Gang and others immediately waited quietly, looking at the surrounding hillsides. The hillside was quiet. The wind blew, the trees rustled, and the long grass rolled like
wave.
The sound of hoofbeats sounded, and hundreds of cavalry turned back. The leading captain reported loudly: "Report to the general, the road ahead is clear and there is nothing unusual."
A smile appeared on Han Gang's face. It seemed that his worries were unnecessary. It seemed that Marshal Yang's judgment was correct. Lin Jue, who sent the alarm, wanted to confuse the situation and confuse the situation. Indeed, Lin Jue and the others were big
The rebels of the Zhou Dynasty naturally hoped that the Zhou Dynasty would be defeated, so that they could fish in troubled waters. Therefore, they resorted to some tricks. The purpose was, as Marshal Yang said, to delay the speed of the army and give the Liao people a chance to breathe.
"Everyone listen to the order and pass here as quickly as possible. Order the following two teams to keep their distance and formation, and pass one by one to avoid congestion." Han Gang ordered in a deep voice.
Even though it was clear that the road ahead was clear, Han Gang still maintained a certain degree of vigilance. This vigilance was a habit developed through many years of military service, and it was not because of his distrust of intelligence. In fact, he had already relaxed in his heart.
A lot.
After receiving the order, the more than 20,000 cavalry soldiers of the front army were ready. Han Gang took the lead and rushed out. The cavalry behind him kept the formation and kept up. After passing through the narrow entrance and entering the wide official road, the cavalry rode quickly.
Swinging the whip and rushing forward.
The long and narrow corridor here is about a mile long. When Han Gang arrived at the middle section, nearly 8,000 cavalrymen from the rear had already entered here through the narrow entrance. The number of the entire front cavalry was only more than 20,000, and nearly half of them were already there.
Soldiers and horses entered it.
This corridor is enough to accommodate the entire front team's 20,000 troops. In other words, the cavalry in the front has not yet exited the north entrance, and the cavalry in the rear has just entered the south entrance. The entire ambush area can accommodate the entire forward cavalry team.
Accommodate them all. This was not a calculated result, it was just a coincidence. But the terrifying nature of this coincidence made Lin Jue, who was hiding in a dense forest in the north and paying close attention to the battlefield situation, feel terrified.
The Liao people were still hiding on the forest hills and did not take action. What were they waiting for? Of course they were not not attacking, but they were waiting for as many fish as possible to enter the net. They wanted to eat more than 20,000 cavalry in one bite
Lose.
Lin Jue couldn't wait any longer, so he whispered the order.
Han Gang and others were galloping on the official road, rushing towards the north exit. Half of the entire cavalry team had already entered. It only took a stick of incense for all the soldiers and horses to rush out of the exit and escape from this dangerous terrain.
Han Gang whipped his horse while constantly patrolling the hillsides on both sides. The hillsides were still very calm, but Han Gang had an indescribable feeling. He couldn't put it in words, but it just felt wrong.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Han Gang's mind. He finally knew why he felt something was wrong. The long grassy jungle on both sides of the hillside was too peaceful. Logically speaking, a large group of cavalry was running past the mountain road.
Those birds and animals in the dense forest with long grass should be disturbed and run away with fluttering wings. Along the way, wherever the cavalry soldiers and horses went, there were birds flying into the sky in the fields next to them, and hares and small animals were frightened everywhere.
They were scurrying around. But there was no movement on the hills that met each other less than a hundred steps away. This was obviously something wrong.
Before Han Gang could think about this abnormal phenomenon carefully, he heard a muffled thunder-like sound exploding behind the hill on the east side.
"Boom!"
The sound was still particularly harsh even among the noisy sound of horse hooves, and Han Gang could hear it clearly. The next moment, three red fireworks bombs rose into the sky behind the east hill. Three red fireworks bombs were left in the sky.
A trail of white smoke followed, followed by a series of explosions.
"No! There's a situation!" Han Gang shouted. He subconsciously reined in his horse and raised his hand to signal the cavalry behind him to slow down.
There was chaos on the official road for an instant, and the galloping horses jumped up one after another, making neighing sounds. However, the entire army stopped abruptly.
"Did you see it? Did you hear it?" Han Gang scanned the hillside with his hawk-like eyes and asked the people around him in a deep voice.
"I heard it, it seems to be the roar of firearms. There are also fireworks." Everyone around them said, reining in the restless war horses.
"It's a little weird, a little weird. That's someone warning us. There must be a ghost on the hillside, and we're afraid we've been ambushed. The hillside is so peaceful and scary, there's definitely something wrong with it. We have to withdraw, withdraw immediately." Han
Gang said coldly.
"Ah? That's not true. Maybe someone is trying to make things up. Didn't Marshal Yang say that? Someone wants to deliberately prevent us from getting to Xijin Mansion in time..." A general beside him said with a frown.
But his words were immediately interrupted by Han Gang, who shouted categorically: "Turn back, turn back immediately, no matter what, we can't take risks. Give the order to the rear team to stop entering, turn around and retreat immediately.
The front team changes to the rear team, retreat!"
Upon hearing this, all the cavalrymen turned their horses' heads one after another, and the soldiers in the rear also turned their horses' heads and prepared to retreat after receiving the order. At this moment, a low horn sounded on the hillside, and with the blowing of the horn, among the long grass and trees,
Countless figures emerged. Long bows were drawn as full as the full moon. Following a shrill cry, the sound of the bow strings was like muffled thunder rolling across the sky, and the dense rain of arrows like dark clouds with the whine of the sky was already there.
The head of the bag is poured down.
The next moment, there were groans, screams, exclamations, curses, moans before death, and the screams of war horses. A sudden and dense rain of arrows fell on the cavalry formation on the dense official road.
In just a few moments, it caused huge casualties.
In the era of cold weapons, the power of bows and arrows was the leader. Bows and arrows can reach far and can kill enemies from a long distance. Those who use them well can cause a lot of damage to the enemy and save themselves. The Liao people were able to roam the north for two hundred years, more than the Da
The Zhou Dynasty had been in power for a long time and could compete with the powerful Zhou Dynasty, relying on its riding and shooting skills. When the elite soldiers and horses of the Liao people fought against the soldiers and horses of the Zhou Dynasty, the most troublesome thing was not other things.
This is the power of their bows and arrows. Moreover, Liao people have been riding and shooting since elementary school, and almost all of them are leaders in various fields. Common people are all very accurate in archery, let alone those in the army.
Moreover, the Liao people were equipped with long bows and powerful arrows. According to some calculations, their bows and arrows were half a stone stronger than the bows and arrows equipped by the soldiers and horses of the Zhou Dynasty. The one-stone bows uniformly equipped by the soldiers and horses of the Zhou Dynasty were one hundred kilograms per stone.
According to standards, a one-stone bow is a very practical equipment. Generally, an adult man can pull a one-stone bow. But the Liao people are different. Their bows and arrows are generally one stone, two to one stone, five. Their strength and range are much higher than those of the Zhou Dynasty.
The bows and arrows must be strong and reach far. Before the Yanyun Alliance was established, the Zhou Dynasty had invaded the Liao Kingdom in the north, and the two sides had a large-scale battle. In that battle, the Liao people relied on the strength and range of their bows and arrows.
The advantage came from the bow and arrow exchange before the war. When the two countries' soldiers and horses were shooting at each other, the Liao people began to fire arrows when they were beyond the range of the Zhou archers. After several rounds, they killed thousands of Zhou soldiers and horses.
This directly led to the defeat of the subsequent battle. It can be said that the reason why the Yanyun Alliance was established must have this reason.
The problem is that this cannot be solved by simply making a powerful bow. The bow is too strong, and the archers of Dazhou cannot pull it at all, or it requires a huge amount of energy, which results in a loss of strength and affects the combat effectiveness. This is not simple.
Strengthening the bow and arrow can solve the problem.
At this moment, the hillsides on both sides are about a hundred paces away from the official road. The long bows and arrows exert great power, but there is no need to worry about accidentally hurting your own people. Although the soldiers and horses of the Zhou Dynasty have elite equipment, the powerful arrows of the Liao people
But it can still penetrate armor and cause damage. This is the power of powerful arrows.
In less than a few dozen breaths, more than a thousand of the Zhou cavalry were shot and killed, and thousands more were injured. The casualties suffered by the dense formation under the heavy rain of arrows were shocking. The formation was also in chaos.
"Retreat, retreat! Retreat quickly!" Han Gang shouted the order. He wanted his troops to retreat to the official road in the rear. The terrain here was open and it was a living target. The opponent's key ambush locations were also on both sides of this open area.
side.
However, the official roads were congested, and the order to retreat would only make the formation more chaotic. Tens of thousands of cavalry who entered the ambush circle were crowded together, making it impossible to retreat in such a chaotic mess.
