The gentle breeze ruffled the water surface of Jingshui River, creating sparkling waves.
The sky was half cloudy but not rainy, the weather was neither warm nor dry, and the wild vegetation was still green before the eyes could see, making people instantly feel like fishing.
If you wear a raincoat and catch a few fresh fish by the water, your life will be peaceful.
However, this peaceful beauty was destroyed by the thundering drums and the desolate horns.
Wei Da Sima Cao Zhendu and Han Prime Minister Zhuge Liang faced off outside Xiaoguan for nearly a month. After both sides conducted many small-scale probing attacks, Cao Zhen's patience was finally worn away.
After deducting the troops garrisoning various counties, he still had more than 60,000 infantry and cavalry to go out to fight in the field, while the Han army leaving Xiaoguan had more than 50,000.
This strength advantage cannot be reflected at all in restrained small-scale harassment.
If the confrontation continues, they will be evenly matched and no one can do anything to the other.
But for the prime minister, the strategic goal has been achieved - to hold back the main force of the Wei army in Guanzhong and prevent them from rushing to the aid of the four counties in Hexi.
For Cao Zhen, the morale of the soldiers will decline as time goes by.
During the years of conflict between Han and Wei, Wei was always at a disadvantage.
Even if Guo Huai was in Jincheng County and killed nearly 10,000 Han soldiers by luring the enemy, he could not offset the disadvantage of losing territory and passively resisting the war. Now the main forces of both armies are in the wild, and no one has the advantage of geographical location.
, who has the advantage of military strength, if he persists in the confrontation without fighting, it may damage the vigor of the soldiers in each department.
Let me ask, if the Han army is allowed to leave Xiaoguan and come and go freely in Anding County, can the bloody men in the army not be frustrated?
Moreover, Cao Zhen had planned in his heart that after Sima Yi's conquest of Liaodong was over, he would send his army out to Longyou by the end of this year. He could not tolerate the low morale of his soldiers.
Now it is better to fight the Han army.
It should be a loss of the opponent's war heritage.
Anyway, in terms of national strength, Wei is the strongest.
With this in mind, Cao Zhen no longer paid attention to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's pressing steps, nor did he pay attention to Wei Yan's small moves to attack Youfufeng. After gathering the army, he went straight to Wushi County on the north branch of the Jing River outside Xiaoguan.
.
No matter how many moves the Han army made, as long as the Wei army reached Wushi County, they would have to gather troops and horses to fight if they did not want to be cut off from returning to Xiaoguan.
In fact, Cao Zhen was very wise about the situation of "snake hitting seven inches".
No commander will ignore the army's retreat.
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang was not surprised either.
After learning about the movements of the Wei army, he recalled the left and right armies of Wei Yan and Wu Ban. The two sides began the first field battle between the main forces of Han and Wei on the banks of this beautiful and winding Jingshui tributary.
It is also extremely rare for both sides to engage in a battle with a total of tens of thousands of troops.
There was no geographical advantage to rely on, and there was no disparity in the number of troops. Both sides pulled out their soldiers and lined up in the wild for a head-on battle.
Such a head-on confrontation tests the art of command.
The arrangement of various units such as infantry and cavalry, bows and crossbows, and the scheduling of the forward and backbone units to perform their respective duties, all determine the outcome of a small area, and also affect the outcome of the entire battlefield.
The advantage of Wei lies in its more than 5,000 cavalry.
The Yongliang Iron Cavalry, composed of tough Han men from the border areas, was invincible in field battles.
This cavalry has been under Cao Zhen's command for many years, and has followed him to put down countless rebellions in the Yongliang land; they are accustomed to following the fighting methods of the wolf pack, they are brave, decisive, and tenacious, and they are all experienced soldiers who have seen blood.
Use Rufeng's speed advantage to attack the flanks and rear, find weak points and rush into the military formation, causing the entire battlefield to collapse.
The only pity is that this cavalry does not have heavy armor cavalry.
It does not have the ability to charge head-on with countless bows and crossbows.
However, the infantry led by Cao Zhen can help them create opportunities.
As long as the infantry can tear through the Han army's defense line, they can decide the outcome.
Two cavalrymen of the Han Dynasty are in the Wushui Basin, and are currently led by Ma Dai and Zhao Guang.
Therefore, the prime minister's troops were arranged along the water bank, which could reduce the direction of the Wei cavalry's surprise attack.
And the formation is very strange.
Looking down from the sky, the tightly arrayed Han troops looked like a huge Eight Trigrams.
It seems to be derived from Sima Rangju's Five Elements Formation and Sun Wu's Bagua Formation. The golden gongs and flags are arranged in the middle, and the antlers and chariots are camped outside. The horses and guns are two feet long. The road is narrow and wooden houses are placed on the chariots.
They can fight and advance at the same time, and they can also respond to each other without exposing any gaps in the defense line.
Using chariots to cover up the formation of soldiers made it impossible to pursue the victory, but it eliminated the possibility of Wei cavalry charging into the formation.
The so-called "charge into the formation" is a tactic commonly used by cavalry to penetrate.
Thousands of cavalry attacked in unison, cutting through the opponent's front from multiple points, reaching the formation, then reining in their horses and turning around to attack in the opposite direction.
Repeatedly, the effect is not to kill.
But to create chaos——
Divide the enemy's formation to cut off the connection between the enemy's soldiers, making it impossible for them to cooperate in combat; it makes each small group of infantry have the illusion of being isolated and helpless, and the general cannot calmly dispatch and resist, and overall the complete formation will be destroyed.
Destroyed into a piece of loose sand.
Furthermore, the cavalry charge is like a sickle cutting wheat.
At extremely high speeds, the cavalrymen only need to hold the sword at an angle to kill the enemy layer by layer.
Each small group of infantry has little chance to resist or counterattack.
This fear of death will become more obvious under the psychological illusion of being isolated and helpless, causing the soldiers to lose their fighting spirit, and then the whole army will be panicked and collapse thousands of miles away.
Jiang Taigong's "Six Tao" said that "one cavalry can serve as eight foot soldiers", which is roughly based on this.
The prime minister, who was obsessed with the Northern Expedition, had been practicing martial arts for many years before he stationed in Hanzhong, and had already figured out how to resist cavalry with foot.
The eight-formation diagram now displayed is what can be relied upon to counteract the extra cavalry of the Wei State.
Cao Zhen led the army and when he asked his troops to move forward slowly, he also looked at the strange formation of the Han army from the high chariot.
Although he had not fought with such a formation, he had experienced many battles and understood that it would be difficult to demonstrate the superiority of his own cavalry.
After all, no matter how earth-shattering the cavalry charge was, it could not break through the dense formation of horse-gun and Wugang chariots.
Therefore, he asked the five thousand Yongliang cavalry to stay peacefully under the banner of the Chinese army and temporarily serve as the plundering guards for the commander's own formation, instead of letting them drive around the battlefield in search of fighter opportunities.
Of course, it would be difficult for cavalry to enter the battlefield, but he was still confident of fighting.
The Wei army had more infantry than the Han army when they came out to fight in the field.
He keenly grasped the subtle flaw of the slow movement of the Han army relying on the chariot formation. The Chinese army only left Xu Gai's thousand soldiers; the rest of the troops were divided into left and right armies, with Fei Yao and Xiahou Ba as the vanguard.
, like two sharp knives coming towards me.
In this way, if the troops are divided into two formations, if one side suffers a temporary defeat, it can quickly retreat and reorganize the formation.
Because the other side may delay Cao Jun's footsteps, preventing Cao Jun from taking the opportunity to pursue and expand the victory.
It is equivalent to ensuring that there will be no big defeat on the battlefield.
But if both sides attack the Han army's formation, then there will be an opportunity for a great victory.
The Han army, which evenly distributed its forces, had to automatically break up the offensive and defensive formation when supporting the two wings. At that time, he could let Xu Gai, who stayed behind in the middle army, lead the soldiers to rush forward, creating opportunities for the cavalry to charge into the formation!
Once the cavalry can use penetration tactics, no matter how good the Han army is in fighting, they will be unable to recover!
Similarly, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, who was in the center of the Eighth Formation, couldn't help but smile as he watched the Wei army advance step by step.
Cao Zhen's intention is obvious.
However, the Prime Minister was not targeted and sent some Chinese troops to respond in advance.
Because it's not needed.
He personally trained his soldiers in martial arts and had full confidence in the former army.
If he were to say that he was invincible, the Prime Minister would not be so boastful; but when the battle came, the soldiers relied on the chariot formation to defend the enemy without moving, making it impossible for the Wei army to break through the formation, so he was still confident.
Moreover, the Han army was not completely without back-ups.
In front of the thick central army were 2,400 heavy infantry soldiers.
Thanks to the fact that Wei Yan captured a large amount of heavy armor in the field battle of Youfufeng Yangcheng in the past, the Han Dynasty was able to form a three-school division of pure heavy infantry. Even if the left and right wings were tight, the Chinese army had to go to support, with this
With heavy infantry still present, it would be impossible for the Wei army to directly attack the central army.
Both sides have something to rely on, and both have taken the lead to ensure that they will not lose.
It also allows each individual's expectations for the war to unfold slowly.
The general on Wei's right wing was Xiahou Ba, and most of the soldiers he led were Li Shu who had moved to Guanzhong from Jizhou.
After several years of training, the combat capability is quite strong.
But the Han right general Wu Ban opposite him was much stronger than him in terms of strategy and battle experience; and Wu Ban was a heroic and heroic man, and all his soldiers were willing to die for him.
Therefore, even though Xiahou Ba commanded more troops, he could not break through Wu Ban's formation.
The soldiers on both sides screamed like thunder, and they were locked in a fierce battle.
In a short period of time, the winner will not be determined.
The left wing is different.
The Wei State was led by Wei General Fei Yao, and most of its soldiers came from Anding and the two northern counties where the people were strong and fierce.
The troops in Kansai are strong and the spears are used. If you are not a selected forward, you cannot be a forward!
The soldiers on the border of Yongliang have always been famous for their bravery and skill in fighting.
When the war drums just sounded across the battlefield, they were holding thick rawhide shields in one hand and spears in the other, and they moved forward step by step in neat steps.
The one who faced him was Meng Yan, the tiger-stepping prisoner.
The Tiger Infantry Army was formed from the tribes of the remnants of Meng Huo and the surrendered soldiers and the powerful southerners during the past expedition to Nanzhong. Everyone took the lead in every battle, and they were also brave and unafraid of death.
In other words, people who have survived in a harsh environment with little literature and little etiquette are not easy to live with!
Inevitably, the fierce battle between these two soldiers became the balance of victory in this battle.
"Buzz!"
"Buzz!"
When the two sides were only about eighty steps away from each other, Cao Jun's formation began to make heart-stopping sounds.
Countless arrows were thrown high into the sky, and the locusts swept in, covering the sky and blocking out the sun. After drawing a beautiful arc in the sun, they seemed to be shooting at the flesh and blood of the opposing soldiers with a smile of death.
Prick away.
A very common tactic, using projectiles to cover the charge of the soldiers.
"Raise your shield!"
The scoldings of generals at all levels rippled across the battlefield.
Although the damage caused by the intensive projectiles is not accurate, it is better than covering the entire area.
The Han troops had to cling to each other and take shelter under their shields.
Occasionally, some unlucky soldiers would be killed by arrows that were drilled into their necks.
But compared to the charging Wei army, they were lucky.
The powerful crossbowmen who relied on the back of the Wuhan Iron and Steel chariots, as well as the huge Yuanrong crossbows that could continuously pour crossbow bolts, were not something that the wooden shields in the hands of Wei soldiers could withstand.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom!"
Amidst the strong sound of the crossbow strings, the various shrill screams of Wei soldiers also began to rise and fall.
At this moment, there is no distinction between high and low in life.
However, the short distance between the two sides and the bravery of the Yongliang soldiers prevented the Han army's powerful crossbows from showing off their power for too long.
After surviving two or three waves of crossbow bolts, they rushed close to the antlers and anti-horse rifles in front of the Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicle formation.
"kill!"
Wei Jun, who was still shouting a neat war song loudly, suddenly burst out with a loud roar.
Aiming at the soldiers in the front row, he leaned down with great experience and hid his head under the thick wooden shield. Like a bull with red eyes, he suddenly hit the soldiers with a tiger leap and used the gravity of his body to knock them away.
Antler bush.
This is the most effective approach.
If they move or break the rope by hand, they will spend more time and face more crossbow bolts.
The temporary antler bushes arranged in the wild are not too dense.
Under the successive collisions of the Wei army, they were dismembered or crooked in a few moments, revealing sparse passages, which also allowed the Yongliang Wei army, who looked determined, to approach the Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicle.
"kill!"
The two armies collided.
The blades and spear knives quickly approached and grew larger in their eyes.
Kill people, then get killed, over and over again.
Soldiers who have acquired perseverance and faith from the harsh mountains and harsh waters will not give in, playing the melody of death on the battlefield.
The cries of killing and the screams of people falling to the ground are endless.
Slowly, as time passed, corpses piled up high enough in front of the Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicle formation, which also caused the Han army to lose the advantage of the bunker. Under the continuous attack of the Wei army, it finally evolved into a hand-to-hand encounter.
After the Wei army suffered losses of more than 2,000 men, they finally broke through the front row of vehicles on the right flank of the Han army.
But when they were unable to continue to expand their results.
The Han army, which did not have the support of Wuhan Iron and Steel chariots, formed a small circular formation with villages as units.
Looking down from the sky, the Wei army in yellow military uniforms spread like a flood; while the Han army in red military uniforms are like small islands in the ocean, one after another, echoing each other, building a cliff.
It tightly controlled the overflow of the flood, and remained firm no matter how it impacted.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Two quarters of an hour, half an hour, an hour.
The war drums shook the sky, the shouts of killing were like thunder, the Wei army was still like a stormy sea, and the Han army was still like a tough rock.
On the chariot at the rear of the Wei army, Grand Sima Cao Zhen, who was witnessing the battlefield, frowned deeply.
He underestimated the resilience and tenacity of the Han army.
It was clear that Fei Yao's army had advanced more than thirty steps into the Han army's formation, but the Han army's central army did not go to support them.
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, who was in the middle of the Han army, also frowned.
He also did not expect that the Wei army suffered so many casualties, but its morale was still high and its offensive continued unabated.
