The formation listed by the Wei army was the flying goose formation.
A formation in which the defense in the middle is weak to lure the enemy deep, and the elite troops on the left and right wings are used to surround and annihilate the enemy.
Yes, Xia Houru did not arrange his soldiers into a circular formation that was more suitable for defense. Instead, he resolutely switched from defense to offense, intending to fight to the death.
It seems quite puzzling.
Because of this, more than 10,000 people from Wei Yandu came to attack, and so far they have lost nearly 3,000 soldiers. However, the Wei army, which had a camp to rely on, only lost 1,000 people. The disparity in strength between the two sides has become increasingly obvious.
According to common sense, Xia Houru should strike steadily and take the defensive first.
Relying on the superiority of troops and relying on dense formations to contain the Han army's attack, as long as the position remains stable, the Han army with a small number of troops that cannot attack for a long time will naturally lose morale and will give up its troops if it loses its fighting spirit.
At that time, he will be able to supervise the army to pursue and capture countless enemies.
Why rush?
Moreover, they still put up a virtual defense of the central army, using banners, golden drums and their own lives to lure the enemy into danger!
But if you think about it carefully, you will find that Xia Houru's move is also reasonable.
Or maybe he was helpless.
Sun Tzu once said: "If you don't have many soldiers, you will have more troops."
Throughout the ages, two armies have fought fiercely, and there are countless examples of smaller armies winning against larger armies. Numbers are not the only balance that determines victory or defeat.
In terms of the combat power of the soldiers, the difference between the Wei army and the Han army is not the slightest; in terms of morale, in the wars between the two sides in the past ten years, Wei suffered numerous defeats, and the morale of the soldiers had long been weakened.
Especially the opposing general is Wei Yan, who has been famous for a long time.
Moreover, when the troops marched out, they burned down the camp and came with the determination to destroy the cauldron and sink the boat!
Xia Houru could not pin his victory or defeat on the superiority of his troops.
The most appropriate approach is to first inspire the soldiers to have the courage to fight with the reality that there is a river behind the camp and the army has no way to retreat, and then seize this opportunity to put all the troops in and make a desperate move!
Rather than going on the defensive.
Because the camp was breached, the morale of the soldiers was already in turmoil. If they were torn apart by the Han army when they were huddled in defense, it would lead to a complete rout of the entire army!
"Gentlemen, there is a big river behind us, and we have no way to retreat!"
After the soldiers were arrayed, Xia Houru drew his sword and shouted loudly in order to command the vigor of the soldiers, "If you advance, you will survive! If you retreat, you will be defeated, and you will die without a burial place. They will all be food for fish and shrimps! You are thousands of miles away from your hometown."
Go to battle, success or failure depends on this day! Fight to the death! Defeat Shu, kill the general and seize the flag, and use your merits to protect your wife!"
The effect is also very obvious.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Wei soldiers were silent for a while, and then they became full of emotion and shouted in unison.
"war!"
"Fight to the death!"
The shouts of killing are like thunder, and the fighting spirit is high.
But for Wei Yan, the sudden outbreak of momentum by the Wei army was no different from the last cry of the insects after autumn.
Yes, in his mind, this battle has been settled.
In other words, the moment the low walls of the camp collapsed, the Han army had already secured victory.
Because the bargaining chip that tilted the balance of war has not yet appeared.
"Nothing before!"
With a simple attack horn, Wei Yan, who was in the lead, led the Han soldiers in the formation like an arrow fed by the wind, piercing through the Wei army's formation.
One is survival in desperate situations, and the other is morale.
Both armies refused to give an inch, and they were inextricably killed upon contact, causing the war to become intense.
On the battlefield at this moment, all you can see are stumps and broken arms, bright red blood and pale bones exposed outside the flesh; all you can hear is the thunderous sound of drums and endless shouts, which convey the tragic fate of the people who are dying all the way to the sky.
listen.
Therefore, no one paid attention to the surrounding situation.
For example, behind the camp, there is a big river that flows all the year round, unknown to the joys and sorrows of the world. On the originally slightly rippling river, there are many sheepskin rafts floating down the river. If you look carefully, you will find many Han soldiers standing on the rafts.
.
Those were Liao Hua, Yan Yu, and Liu Lin, who was in charge of 500 heavy infantry.
It is also the basis for Wei Yan's victory.
He was always full of ideas, so after receiving the Prime Minister's letter, he drove his horse to the low hills beside the river every day and stopped to look into the distance.
People who don't know why think that he is just passing the time out of boredom.
But in fact, he was thinking about the feasibility of attacking the Xiahou Ru camp from upstream.
Blocked by the Quwu Mountains, the river meandering northwards here has rapid currents, and there are few ferries with gentle currents that can allow boats to cross. Otherwise, the Anyin Ferry on the Hanping River would not be known as the gateway to Hexi and become a must-have for military strategists.
place.
But this does not mean that other riverside areas cannot be floated.
During the Pre-Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu who occupied the Hexi Corridor often used crude and crude horse-hide boats to travel between the west and east of the river without going through the Manyin Ferry.
The prerequisite is that there are no enemy alerts or ambush on the other side.
Although it is now the turn of summer and autumn, abundant rain has caused the river to become more turbulent.
But Wei Yan felt that there was no reason for his soldiers to return defeated even if the Xiongnu could do it hundreds of years ago.
And he has no choice.
Facing the Wei army, which has a camp to rely on and a larger number of troops, if he does not win by surprise, even if his troops conquer the camp, he will suffer heavy casualties!
This will lead to difficulties in resolving the problem.
Even if they rush to the fortress of Manyin City as they wish, they will still be unable to resist the return defense of the Guo Huai tribe.
After weighing the pros and cons, he would rather let his soldiers go and take risks.
Therefore, he sent people to the east side of Wushaoling, and asked Jiang Wei's tribe to come here to attract Fei Yao's tribe, who was responsible for alerting the Han army, and then led the entire army to attack the fortress by himself, drawing the attention of Xiahou Ru's tribe.
Turn to the front of the camp so that Liao Hua and other troops can attack the rear with rafts without anyone noticing.
This is also one of the reasons why he attacked the fort overnight regardless of the fatigue of his soldiers.
If you float down the river at night, you are more likely to capsize, but your shelter will be higher.
Fortunately, Liao Hua and other troops lived up to his expectations.
They had escaped to the mountain col about 20 miles away in the rear three days in advance. Taking the thick smoke of the Han army's burned barracks as their belief, they dragged the raft they had prepared long ago into the water and drifted down.
The rapid currents and the drifting of dozens of miles caused many rafts to capsize and about 800 soldiers were buried at the bottom of the river.
But when they arrived at the rear of the camp, abandoned their rafts and landed on the shore to attack from behind, the morale of the Wei army, which had been fighting to the death, immediately collapsed. No matter how Xia Houru encouraged him, and no matter how ruthless the generals at all levels were in marching to establish their authority by killing, they could not stop the soldiers.
Defeat is like a mountain falling.
There are many people abandoning their weapons and lying on the ground asking for surrender.
In their haste, they trampled on each other to death, and countless people drowned by pushing each other into the river.
Xia Houru also died.
Powerless and with no way to retreat, he led his personal guards to fight bravely and was killed among the rebels.
It can be regarded as a corpse wrapped in horse leather, which does not insult the origin of Cao Wei Yuanxun.
Hu Zun's troops who were besieging the fortress of Manyin saw that Xia Houru was destroyed and thought that they could not resist the Han army, so they retreated to Helan Mountain with the partial army guarding Hanpingchuan overnight.
Regarding this, Liu Yin, the garrison of Jianyin, was very upset.
To be cautious, he first sent soldiers out of the city to spy on the military situation. After it was confirmed that Wei Yan's tribe had a great victory, when he wanted to lead his troops out of the city to pursue Hu Zun's tribe, it was already too late.
He missed out on the military success that was so easily available.
