Unless it is a scout war launched specifically to kill the opponent's scouts, in most cases, direct conflicts between the scouts from both sides rarely break out. The scouts' primary task is to detect intelligence, not to fight with the enemy, then
It is the job of the main force of the army.
The fact that the Han army's scouts took action naturally meant that the Northern Zhou scouts had touched their bottom line, so their primary task changed from detecting the enemy's intelligence to preventing the enemy from detecting their own intelligence, and it became logical to take action.
It is certain that there must be enemy troops deployed here in Huangshawan.
The Northern Zhou army gradually stopped and transformed from a marching array into a wild goose formation with obvious offensive intentions.
Yuan Xie took a deep breath and looked at the terrain in front of him.
Huangshawan, as its name suggests, is very much like a desert.
In the Guanzhong area of this era, due to the long-term war and the population reduction caused by the war, most places were still lush with vegetation. But continuing north from Guanzhong, even with the moisture of the river, the surface vegetation began to become sparse and short.
, after passing the Yanzhou line, scenes similar to deserts and Gobi naturally begin to appear, and the color between heaven and earth also begins to lean toward yellow.
Huangshawan is a typical example.
There should have been a river here. The winding roads between the rugged hills were obviously old river channels. Later, they may have dried up due to climate changes and the retreat of vegetation, but the name at that time has been retained, otherwise it would not be possible.
Wouldn't call this "the Bay".
Not far from Huangshawan is Lingwu, but if you want to go directly to Lingwu from the east, Huangshawan is almost the only choice.
Yuan Xie had to admit that this was indeed a suitable place for ambush and blocking.
The Han army did not seem to intend to set up an ambush here, because the surrounding bare surface could not hide people at all, so they simply set up a defense line here.
There are many figures on the hill not far away, and there are Han cavalry looking at the Northern Zhou army here from a distance.
"Prepare to attack!" Yuan Xie ordered decisively.
He was not afraid of this battle, and even looked forward to it.
The Northern Zhou army began to move forward. They were quite cautious, with the crossbowmen in the center advancing steadily, while the cavalry spread out to both sides, preparing to outflank and intercept. At the same time, the infantry of the large group was ready to seize the commanding heights.
It is impossible for an army to pass through such a valley without occupying the commanding heights.
What Yuan Xie and any Northern Zhou soldiers didn't know was that at this time, on the hillside, Yu Xi was lying on the ground watching the Northern Zhou people begin to form formations and advance, just pursed his lips and said nothing. The wind blew his cheeks,
Just like a knife.
The wind in the north of the Great Wall is still so familiar.
The surrounding messengers also held their breaths. They knew that in the eyes of the Northern Zhou people, the top of the mountain should be bare at this time. After all, it was impossible to see the little exposed head from such a long distance.
As the Zhou people began to advance, everyone also turned their attention to Xi, waiting for him to give the order to attack.
As noon approached, the wind gradually died down.
Yu Xi suddenly stood up and waved his hand downwards.
The messengers who had been watching his movements simultaneously put up the flags that had been prepared long ago.
On the hills, red flags were raised one after another.
The next moment, thousands of arrows were fired!
In order to ensure that his team of infantry and cavalry could maneuver quickly, Yu Xi did not carry any large equipment. Arrows were the only long-range weapons he could rely on.
But God is very kind to me. When the wind calms down, the arrows will no longer be headless flies!
Densely packed arrows suddenly rose from behind the hill, approaching quickly.
In the pupils of the soldiers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the arrows were enlarging.
"Raise your shield!" Yuan Xie shouted.
The shield was raised side by side.
Although he did not know the details of the enemy, as a qualified general, Yuan Xie had long been prepared to deal with the enemy's crossbowmen. After all, the enemy was condescending and would inevitably give priority to suppressing the battlefield through archery.
The arrows roared in and hit the shield with "crackling". Most of the arrows were blocked by the shield, but a small number of arrows still passed through the gaps in the shield, or crossed over the shield and pierced into the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
The soldiers' chests were full of blood.
At the same time, the Northern Zhou crossbowmen also began to counterattack, but their counterattack effect was not very good. This was mainly because the Han army soldiers were arrayed on a reverse slope, with no heads exposed at all. In addition, there were many soldiers in front of them.
There were shields blocking their sight, so the soldiers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty could only choose to throw them blindly.
There are generally two ways for crossbowmen to release arrows.
One is to shoot straight forward. This method is the simplest. Anyone who can draw a bow or load a crossbow can basically do it. At the same time, the arrow is shot straight and is the easiest to aim. However, this method has requirements.
Of course there are many. First of all, there should be no obstacles in front. Secondly, in order to increase the shooting range, it is best to shoot from a high position.
The second type is naturally projectile. The crossbowman can shoot arrows into the sky at a certain angle under the protection of the shield hand. The arrow will fall through a large arc and kill the enemy with the force brought by the gravity of the fall. This can not only protect
Our own crossbowmen can also bypass enemy barriers, but this method means that it is difficult for the crossbowmen to master the strength and range. The generals in charge need to calibrate it bit by bit, which is somewhat similar to that of later generations.
For naval gun shooting, you need to adjust the shooting elements, and the striking surface of the arrow fired should be smaller than that of a flat shot.
Now the Han army's crossbowmen are on the ridgeline of the hillside. They are shooting from a high position, and the arrows form a fan and sweep across. However, the Northern Zhou army's crossbowmen can only shoot, but they have no idea about the Han army's position behind the hillside.
The positioning is so bad that it feels like shooting arrows blindly no matter how you look at it.
Realizing that this seemed to have no effect other than wasting arrows, Yuan Xie quickly ordered to stop shooting arrows and began to advance forward with the infantry as the vanguard.
Yuan Xie saw very clearly that the Han army only used arrows to block the advance of the Northern Zhou army. What does this mean?
This shows that they probably did not carry weapons of mass destruction such as trebuchets, nor did they carry the new weapons that had shown great success in the Battle of Yanzhou and the Battle of Shuofang. This undoubtedly gave Yuan Xie a reassurance.
.
The enemies should be nothing more than lightly armored cavalry.
Yuan Xie had a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and they were all the elites of the Northern Zhou army. Why are they called elites? Because half of these soldiers and horses were Yang Jian's assets accumulated from his conquests over the years. In addition,
Half of them are northern warriors trained by Wei Xiaokuan when he was stationed in northern Xinjiang to guard against Turks. This kind of army can be regarded as elite even in the whole world.
They were born to deal with the wolf-like cavalry on the northern grasslands.